


The New Girl in Town

by murmeltearding



Series: Amazing Chemistry and Sadness [1]
Category: Watch Dogs (Video Games)
Genre: 3D Printing, Alcohol, Angst and Feels, Bad Puns, Blood, Broken Hearts, Bruises, Canon-Typical Violence, Cats, Cheating, Cocaine, Concerts, Depression, Desert, Dick Jokes, Divorce, Explicit Language, Explosions, F/M, Fighting, Fire, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Food Kink, Friendship, Gamenight, Genital Piercing, Graphic Description of Corpses, Grenades, Gun Violence, Gunshot Wounds, Hacking, Happy Ending, Heavy Petting, Jealousy, Making Up, Netflix and Chill, Pregnancy, Pumpkins, Recreational Drug Use, References to david attenborough, Robots, Scrabble, Sextoys, Silly, Thunder and Lightning, Vibrators, Wedding Fluff, broken mask, camo&krooked, cats on robots, cum jokes, cursing, drones, general dorkyness, kult, learning to code, manipulative parent, mention of past selfharm, meow, nudle, painful erections, pansexuality, reggaemusic, sex in a public place, so many more dickjokes, summerheat, throwing rocks, tragic backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2019-06-15 00:25:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 54,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15400911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murmeltearding/pseuds/murmeltearding
Summary: You and Sitara have met in College and been friends ever since. When you decide to move to San Francisco, she lets you stay at her place for a few weeks, until you find a place to live on your own.Since you don't know anyone yet, she introduces you to her closest friends, some of which are more weird than others...





	1. Chapter 1

"Hey, thanks again for letting me stay , till I get settled" you said, half turning around to Sitara who was setting the table in her roomy kitchen.   
You had been friends since College, but after finishing school your friendship had consisted mostly of long telephone calls and almost constant texting.  
On the stove in front of you, a pot of tomato sauce was happily blubbering away. The water for the noodles was about to start boiling and you dumped two packages of spaghetti into it.  
"Thank you for cooking for all of us" Sitara countered. She placed the bottle of wine she had just opened on the table. Thinking for a second, she poured a glass and handed it to you, before pouring herself one as well.  
"The guys will have beer anyways, so this one is all ours." she hugged the bottle tight and petted it a bit, grinning.  
Laughing you took a sip of the wine. It tasted fruity and fresh with a slight bitter aftertaste. Quite good actually. "So I see your taste in wine has gotten a bit more sophisticated." you said over your shoulder, while adding a few more herbs and a dash of vinegar to the pasta sauce.  
"Yea, I can afford bottles now and don't have to drink the stuff that comes in boxes any longer."  
You sighed, feeling a pang of melancholy. "Good old times."  
Taking another sip of wine, you went back to cooking again. "Where's your cheese-grater?"  
"Over there..." Sitara pointed towards the far corner, not bothering to get up from her chair. Her glass was almost empty and she seemed a little tipsy already.  
"Thanks for being so helpful." rolling your eyes, you went and got the grater yourself. Parmesan by the piece was another upgrade you hadn't been able to afford when you had been in school.  
  
The doorbell ringing made you look up. "That's gonna be Josh. He's always perfectly on time." Sitara said and got up to let him in.

Sitara had told you about her Friends. Josh was the youngest one of the group, a bit socially awkward but a pretty nice guy once you got to know him.  
"Hi Josh, nice to meet you. I'm Y/N" you said, shooting him a bright smile. He didn't like to be touched, so you didn't offer your hand.  
"Hi" he said shyly and sat down on the chair in the very corner, eyes firmly fixed on the table.   
Without having to be asked, Sitara placed a can of Red Bull in front of him. He held on to it as if his life depended on it.  
Sitara sat down again and took another sip of wine.  
Her ginger-cat Boy took Josh's arrival as his cue and chose that exact moment to walk into the kitchen, tail held high, whiskers twitching. He mewed a greeting at Josh before jumping onto his lap and making himself comfortable.  
Josh's whole face lit up and he started petting the purring animal.  
"He knows he isn't usually allowed in the kitchen." Sitara explained. "But whenever Josh is here... well... you see the two of them." She looked at the two like a proud mother.  
Josh had all but forgotten his surroundings. He was cooing and petting the cat and making noises at him. It was adorable and you could understand why Sitara was making an exception for the two of them.  
"Why did you name him Boy anyways? It’s the stupidest name one could imagine." you half scolded Sitara, but couldn't completely hide your grin.  
"Well, he IS a boy, so what else is there to think about?" was Sitaras reply.  
"That is one way to name a cat, I gotta give you that."  
"See! And Kali is so chaotic, so she of course had to be named after the godess of chaos." Sitara explained her other cat's name. You only heard a short meow from her, but she was nowhere to be seen.  
Before you could ask her why she hadn't named her "Girl", the doorbell rang again and Sitara got up.  
You fished one of the noodles out of the water to make sure they were al dente, before straining them and placing them on the table with the parmesan and tomato sauce.  
Josh looked up at you, watching you arrange everything, but quickly focused his attention back on the cat.

When Sitara entered the room again, another man was following her. Tall and dark skinned, wearing slacks and a knit sweater with a fox on it, sleeves rolled up to his elbows.  
"Perfect timing!" he exclaimed, when he saw the pots and pans on the table. "I'm Marcus! Nice to finally meet you! Feels like I know you already, from how much Sitara is always talking about you!"  
You smiled and stepped closer to greet him. He wasn't one for formality and pulled you into a tight hug. "You're taller than I imagined" he said, after letting go of you.  
"Umm... nice to meet you too… and thanks, I guess?" you laughed at his enthusiasm.  
"Sit down, sit down" Sitara ordered smiling, before you could talk more and handed Marcus a beer from the fridge. "Wrench will be late as usual, so dig in before the food gets cold!"  
She started putting noodles on everyone's plates when the doorbell rang again.  
"I'll get it!" you said so she could perform her host's duty.  
"Wait!" Marcus said, opened his beer, put a straw in it and handed it to you with a grin. "So you'll make a good first impression!"  
Confused you took the beer and went to open the door.  
Sitara had told you that Wrench was quite something to look at. Despite the warning, it took you a few seconds to process: a lot of studs and a lot of black on his outfit as well as in his skin; tall and skinny, bordering on bony, as far as you could tell.  
"Is that for me?" he asked, pointing at the beer in your hand. His voice was weirdly modified by some sort of synthesizer and ^.^ lit up on the LCD Display that hid his eyes. The bottom part of his face was hidden by more studs and you understood why Marcus had given you the straw.  
You looked down at the can and cleared your throat as you found your voice again. "Yea... Marcus wanted to make sure I made a good first impression," you chuckled and handed the can to him.  
"Well done! Looking good, bringing me alcohol... first impression couldn't be much better!" His mask switched to ~.~ for a second and then back to ^.^ in what you assumed was his way of blinking.  
"That’s... quite an outfit you're sporting there." you murmured, stepping aside to let him in.  
"Thank YOU!! Finally someone who appreciates! I've made it myself... well... some of it..." he trailed off, following you towards the kitchen. "Did you start without me?" he exclaimed when he found the others eating already.  
"Well, you're ushually late, shoooo....." Sitara murmured around a mouth full of noodles.  
"Criticism duly noted," he said, sat down on one of the empty chairs and started shoveling food onto his plate without loosing any more time.  
"Thish ish delishioush" Sitara said and flushed the food down with a big gulp of wine. The other two nodded in agreement.  
You sat down on the last empty chair, laughing. "Glad you like it." Now you understood why Sitara had told you to make about twice as much food as you usually would for five people. Each of them had a huge mountain of noodles on their plate and they were eating as if they had been starved for weeks.Wrench cut his noodles carefully and awkwardly proceeded to eat spoonfuls of noodles with one hand, while lifting his mask with the other. Why he didn't take it off was beyond you, but you were fine with whatever made him happy.  
For a few minutes all you could hear was the scraping of cutlery on plates and Boy's purring from the direction of Josh's lap.

The beeping of your phone disturbed the comfortable silence and everyone looked up when you got up to turn off the oven.  
"Dessert is ready," you announced when you opened the door and pulled out the cake you had made.  
"Oh my god... Why didn't you say you'd introduce me to the woman of my dreams tonight? I would have worn my good mask." Wrench stage-whispered towards Sitara, *.* lighting up on his display.  
"Yea... because the mask is the problem..." she teased.  
Everyone laughed, which made Boy the cat look around between them in confusion. He meowed in protest, turned around in a lazy circle and lay down on Josh's lap again.  
"Oh shut up, cat!" Wrench said and got up to inspect the cake. You slapped his fingers when he tried to touch it. "Finish your noodles first, then you can have dessert!" you scolded.  
"Did you just slap me?" he almost sounded hurt, as far as that was possible with his synthesizer, and you wondered for a second if you had maybe overdone it... you tended to get a bit too intense when you were in a good mood. "Kinky... I like it!" he gave you what you assumed was his version of a wink, which was *.~ on his display and walked the short distance back to the table to sat down again, never letting you out of his view though.  
You inwardly sighed with relief. Not too intense. Good!

"Can we have the cake now?" Wrench whined the moment everyone had finished their pasta.  
You chuckled and got up to take away everyone's plate.   
"Just gimme a sec..." You cut 4 normal pieces and one that was a quarter of the whole cake, placing the normal pieces in front of the others and the big one in front of Wrench.  
“Thank you!” he said towards you before turning to Sitara, “See, this is how should always treat me!”  
“Oh great… I’ll never hear the end of that, will I?” she joked.  
“Sorry!” you laughed. “I didn’t wanna start anything…”  
“Oh but I want to! I definitely want to start something,” Wrench said and shot you another LED-wink.  
Sitara slapped him and got up. “Leave the woman alone.”  
  
When everyone had a new drink in front of them, Sitara vanished into the living room to get her battered scrabble game. It had obviously seen quite a few half drunk game nights before.  
You put away the used cake dishes while the others set up the game.  
Half an hour later, all of you were howling with laughter at Wrench’s creative use of his tiles. Words like DEERBUTT and CORNHOLE were on the board, and Wrench was describing to you what exactly QUETZALS were. He easily dominated the game. When you used his Z and spelled MUZJIKS he stopped and looked at you impressed. “Beauty and smarts in one girl… you’re like a unicorn.”  
You snorted. "While I appreciate the compliment, could you maybe not insult my whole gender just to flirt with me?"   
  


When there were no tiles left, you added up your score and it turned out Wrench had won with 2 points lead on you.  
“Well played, Sir,” you congratulated him.  
“I’ve never had a more worthy opponent.” he humbly admitted. “But I kinda regret not agreeing on a price for the winner before we started.”  
“Like what?” you asked playfully. The alcohol was getting you in the mood to give him a price. And the way he kept looking at you did the rest. Even though you couldn’t see his eyes, you still felt his glance on you whenever you moved.  
“Like… the winner gets to decide who will give him a blowie or something!” he laughed.  
This earned him a punch in the shoulder from Marcus and an eyeroll from Sitara.  
“I better leave, before you make up your mind who you want the blowie from.” Marcus said, getting up.  
Josh had long since walked off to the living room with the cat. Neither of them much appreciated drunk people, which left you with Sitara and Wrench.  
“I gotta finish some work. Early appointment with a client tomorrow morning.” she murmured, leaving the kitchen as well.  
“Well how… convenient.” Wrench stated and started fumbling with his belt, his eyes never leaving you.  
“Hmmm… well, now I probably have to.” you murmured and got up to walk towards him.  
“Yea… house rules.” he said, taking a sip from his straw.  
“I better not break them then.” you teased and stepped very close to him him, so your bodies almost, but not quite, touched.  
“Yea, you better not.” he put his beer to the side to have his hands free.  
If it wasn’t for his mask, you would probably have felt his breath on your cheek. He was a little taller than you, not by much though. His hand slowly moved around you, coming to rest at the small of your back.  
When he placed his second hand on your hip, you stopped trying to figure out what it was and put your arms up around his neck.  
It felt odd looking at the mask instead of his eyes, but you stayed where you were nonetheless, absentmindedly licking your lips.  
“Are you doing that on purpose?” he murmured and moved his hand to caress your cheek.  
You pressed your lips together self consciously. “Nope… sorry, I didn’t…”  
“Don’t be sorry… its hot!” he moved his thumb to your lips. You could feel the callouses on his fingers as he gently traced the line of your bottom lip. The sensation sent tingles through your whole body and you opened your mouth the tiniest bit.  
*.* changed to O.O on Wrench’s display and you had to close your eyes to get adjusted to the brighter glare.  
“Sorry” he murmured.  
“Can’t you take that thing off?” you asked boldly.  
“Nah… I’d rather not.”  
You sighed and gently placed your hand on his neck, just below the ear, gently letting it glide downwards, inwardly rejoicing in the shiver it triggered in him.  
“You should leave now… I really don’t want to keep Sitara up all night.” you murmured.  
“Yea, I probably should,” he agreed but neither of you quite wanted to let go just yet.  
It was kinda hard to get close to him with all the spikes tough. Even a hug would have probably have ended painfully for you.  
“Now,” you murmured, pushing yourself away from him.  
“Not yet,” he tried pulling you close again. He was surprisingly strong considering how skinny he was.  
“Yes, now,” you chuckled and tried pushing away once more.  
“But….” he pulled you close and pressed himself against you, making it very clear how much he didn’t want to let go of you just yet.  
“Poor boy.” you teased, caressing his neck some more before decidedly stepping away. “We can meet again… soon!” you promised. “Maybe without so many spikes?” you added as an afterthought.  
He chuckled at that. “Usually girls dig all the metal.”  
“Girls might… but I’m a unicorn, remember?”  
“Touché!” he gave up and started moving towards the door.  
You followed him and held the front door open for him. “Good Night, Wrench…. Sweet dreams.”  
“Of that you can be sure…. Good night, my unicorn.” he blew you a kiss and stepped outside.


	2. Netflix & Chill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wrench invites you for Netflix and Chill.  
> Not in the way one might expect tough. He is more creative than that!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so there was a little IT Problem at the office today, which gave me some time to start this chapter... and in the afternoon, inspiration hit and I wrote the second half of this chapter...  
> I hope my kitty won't be mad for kicking him off my lap so I could finish this...

"So... did anything happen with you and Wrench last night?" Sitara asked the next morning grinning at you over her cup of coffee.  
You choked on the sip you had just taken. "Define anything happen" you said once you were not in danger of asphyxiating anymore.  
"Oh come on, don't be all mysterious! He was hitting on you all evening!"  
"Yea well... no, nothing happened... I mean... how would it when he refuses to take off his stupid mask? Why does he wear that thing anyways? Is something wrong with his face or what?" you were annoyed, to say the least. Never before had you been cockblocked by an electronic device.  
"I don't know... neither of us have ever seen him without it... We each have our theories tough... I mean... Maybe we got a Superman/Clark Kent situation going on there..." Sitara murmured, taking another bite of her croissant.  
The thought made you snort. "Yea, sure... He'd look so much different without the mask. I mean... The tattoos definitely wouldn't be a giveaway. "  
"Maybe they're fake too!" Sitara continued her musings.  
"Didn't look fake to me... and I've seen them close up..." you admitted, blushing lightly.  
"So, something DID happen! I knew it!" she exclaimed, excitedly pointing her croissant at you.  
"He.... kinda had a boner for me... but we didn't get to use it! I mean... it’s not as if I could fuck him on your kitchen counter!"  
"Why the hell not? Wouldn't be the first time someone had sex on the counter... or on the table, for that matter..."  
You moved away from the table in mock disgust, taking your cup with you.  
"Don't worry... that couch you have been sleeping on is much worse... I wouldn't recommend looking at it with a blacklight..." Sitara chuckled.  
"Come oooooon! Was that really necessary?" you stood up, now disgusted for real.  
Sitara shrugged and continued eating. "That's how I roll.... well, anyways... He asked me for your number! Can I give it to him or nah?"  
Your heart skipped a beat at that. "He did? That's.... kinda sweet... isn't it?"  
"He's not usually that bold around girls, so I'd say it is."  
"Alright... give him my number then... and tell him I'll be expecting his call."  
"And I'll also tell him, if he hurts you, I'll break his mask... just to be sure!" she gave you thumbs up.  
***  
A few days later you were woken up from your afternoon nap by Kali the cat jumping on your chest. "Ugh..." you made as the breath huffed out of your lungs. The room was half dark from the curtains being closed and only a little bit of light shone through the fabric. "What do you want, dummy?" you murmured, scratching her chin.  
"Mew" she made and patted at your face with her front paw. She was kind of an odd cat. Odd, but oh so fluffy and sweet, if she chose to.  
The past few days had been a marathon of job interviews and looking at flats you'd probably never be able to afford. Wrench still hadn't called and you started to think he never would.  
Sitara was out most days, working on one project or another. As an artist, she didn't have a regular schedule but she seemed to be working an awful lot for your liking.  
With a sigh you sat up and repositioned Kali onto your lap. You hadn't expected getting settled in San Francisco would be so hard. Not even Starbucks wanted to hire you, even though you'd gone to art school! The cat meowed once more before settling down, resting her head on your knee and closing her eyes.  
As if on cue, your phone started ringing just that second. Kali looked at you accusingly when you bent forward to get it, forcing her to move from her new, comfortable position.  
The number on the display was unfamiliar and your heart started racing. Could this be one of the interviewers calling you back?  
“Sorry” you whispered to the cat before picking up. "Yes? Y/N Y/L/N speaking?"  
"Oh, all formal today," the caller chuckled and you let out the breath you had been holding. Not a job, just Wrench.  
"Sorry, I was expecting someone else... someone important." you teased.  
"Aww... too bad, it’s just unimportant old me... I was wondering if you were free to hang out tonight."  
"Wow... tonight? Short notice much?" you feigned hurt even though there was nothing on your agenda tonight... or any night of that week for that matter.  
"Yea, short notice is kinda my thing... I refuse to support the calendar industry and my memory is ridiculously bad." he chuckled.  
"Wow, you know how to make a girl feel important." you murmured, but were glad you wouldn't be sitting at home alone for another evening. "So what do you wanna do?"  
"Oh I don't know... Netflix and chill, maybe?"  
"Seriously?" you asked. "You might as well tell me to shave and put on some fancy underwear... that would be honest at least."  
"Nah... no need to shave anything for me... and you can leave off the underwear, it’s just one more obstacle on the way to glory anyways."  
"Way to make me feel special..." you rolled your eyes even though he couldn't see it.  
"Would it make you feel special if I promised to scream your name when I cum?"  
"We'll see about that... Are you gonna pick me up at least?"  
"Sure... I can be there whenever...."  
"I'm suffering from a severe case of feline paralysis just now, so maybe give me 2 hours so I can recover and have a shower?" Boy had joined you on the sofa as well and was half lying on your thigh.  
"Those damn cats can sit on you, but I can't... where's the justice in that?"  
"Don't worry... I'll be sitting on your face later..." you face palmed yourself, immediately regretting blurting out the first thing that had come to your mind.  
"I'll remind you of that later!" he chuckled, "see you in 2 hours." then he hung up.  
***  
One hour and 55 minutes later, you were showered and dressed. You wore comfy black harems-pants and a low cut purple tank top, figuring if you'd only be chilling in his flat there was no need to pretty yourself up too much. Since you had forgotten to buy razor blades, you had actually forgone shaving anything. The nice underwear you had put on would more than make up for that, even though Wrench had stated he didn't care.  
Your phone lit up with a text: [Waiting outside... come downstairs?]

"What a gentleman you are." you greeted him sarcastically when you exited the building. He was leaning against the low fence that surrounded the small yard in front of the house. Again, he wore ripped black jeans and a dark sweater with the hood up, and of course, his mask.  
"Oh yes, I am!" he replied and procured a single flower from behind his back, roots still attached, obviously ripped from the flower bed next to him.  
You rolled your eyes but couldn't help finding the small gesture endearing.  
"Pretty flower for the pretty lady." he murmured and ripped off the stem to place the blossom behind your ear.  
You blushed and murmured a quick "Thank you."  
"Come, come!" he said and you followed him to his car, a nondescript black pickup. Against all odds he opened the front passenger door for you. Somewhere below that rough exterior, there really seemed to be a gentleman hiding.  
The radio was tuned to dedsec pirate radio, according to the display, and some song by The Prodigy was playing.  
“Dedsec pirate?” you said. “Never heard of that station. Is it any good?”  
Wrench chuckled. “Yea, I know a few of the guys… they got great taste in music!” he turned the music up and started the engine.  
“Where are we going by the way? You didn’t even tell me where you lived!”  
“Oh we’re not going to my place… what kind of a first date would that be?”  
“A Netlix and chill one, obviously. I’m glad Sitara vouched for you. A stranger taking me to a strange place is kinda scary.”  
“Don’t worry, you’ll love it! And I'm not gonna murder you... yet.”  
“Please don’t steal my kidney either.” you murmured, only half joking.  
“Nah... I’ll have to return you in one piece. Sitara made me promise and she’s scary!”  
That made both of you laugh. Sitara could be scary if she so chose.  
“So… what do you do for a living?” you asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence. “You don’t seem like the 9 to 5 kind of guy.”  
“I’m…. self-employed, if you want to call it that. I work with Sitara and the others… that’s how we met, actually.”  
“So you’re an artist as well?”  
“Yea, in a way…” he half nodded to himself. Now that you were thinking about it, you didn’t exactly know what Sitara did for a living, even though you talked to her almost every day. You weren't one to press people if they wanted to be mysterious about something, so you let him trail off.  
Another song had started and he was drumming along with the beat on the steering wheel. The road you were on, lead through the nice part of town and took you a steady path uphill.  
When there were no more houses the road came to an end. Wrench didn’t halt tough. He drove off the street and on to a dirt road that took you farther up the hill. Only when that path ended as well, did he decelerate and finally stop the car.  
“I thought you wanted to Netflix and chill?” you murmured, looking around as you got out.  
“Yea, but everyone can do that at home…“ he took you by the hand and led you to the bed of the truck. You hadn’t noticed there were cushions and blankets waiting for you.  
“Up up you go.” he opened the hatch so you could climb into the bed easily. “Make yourself comfortable, I’ll be with you in a second.” he murmured and got a little cooler and his laptop from the front of the car. You wrapped yourself in the blanket and leaned back. The view was amazing. The whole city was spread before you as the sun was sinking down below the horizon. No one but the two of you was up on the hill and only the rustling of leaves and the soft clicking of the engine cooling down broke the silence. Wrench handed you both laptop and cooler so he could climb up on the truck bed with you. Before he settled down, he took off his jacket and cleared his throat to make sure you noticed.  
“Half the studs, still all of the magnificence.” he joked and carefully placed the jacket in the corner. In the cooler was a six-pack of beer and a zipper bag with two sandwiches.  
“Wow, you actually thought this through!”  
“Of course! Only the best for my lady! Now what are we watching?” he asked. “I mean, I got an idea but you can choose!”  
“Can we watch the sunset before we start with the main entertainment?” you pointed westwards and took a deep breath in the cool air.  
“See! I told you you’d enjoy it!” he seemed awfully proud of himself for having had such a good idea.  
“Yea, you did good! I’d thank you with a kiss if I could, but….” you pointed at his face which was still hidden behind the mask. “Sitara said she thought you were having a kind of Superman/Clark Kent situation. Wanna hear my theory?"  
"Sure, let's hear."  
"I think you’re short sighted and too vain or cheap to buy yourself a proper pair of glasses.”  
He choked on his beer, laughing. “That’s a first!” he said breathlessly once he stopped coughing.  
You chuckled as well. “Are you alright? Sorry, I really shouldn’t talk to people while they’re drinking… Being hilarious like that is both a blessing and a curse. You wouldn’t know about that though, would you?”  
“Stop it woman and enjoy the sunset like you wanted.” he said, still laughing as he put his arm around your shoulders to make you look towards the horizon.  
You looked at him for a second longer before letting your head sink against his shoulder. “That’s nice,” you murmured, snuggling closer.  
He gave your shoulders a squeeze instead of replying.  
Your one hand was resting on his thigh and you played with the threads from his ripped pants.  
“Stop that.” he slapped your hand away. “If you need to fiddle with something, move your hands a bit farther north.”  
You rolled your eyes at his idiocy, but placed your hand a bit farther upwards nonetheless.  
“Neat…” he stage-whispered.  
Once the sun had vanished below the horizon he got the laptop and placed it on his knees. “So, what doth the lady want to watch?” he asked in what you assumed was supposed to be a posh accent. “And if I may be allowed one more question… doth thou indulge in the weed?”  
“Oh god, please never do that accent again!” you laughed. “It’s awful!”  
“But you wanted me to treat you like a lady!”  
“Yea, one from this century tough! And yes, I very much enjoy indulging in the weed.” you mocked his silly accent.  
“Good!” he pushed a few buttons and started David Attenborough’s Kingdom of Plants. “I thought that would fit the setting… and Sitara told me you liked that dude.”  
“I love him… He’s fucking hot!” you chuckled.  
"Isn't he like a hundred?" he looked at you with O.o on his mask.  
"So?" you shrugged.  
“Well then…” he lit the joint and took a few drags before handing it to you then opened another can of beer and leaned back to enjoy the documentary. His arm moved behind you again and rested at your hip. You snuggled up to him and resumed petting his thigh.

About half an hour into the documentary, you felt Wrench’s hand slowly starting to wander up your side and ribs. A silent grin appeared on your face at his boldness. You didn’t say anything but let your fingers explore their surroundings as well. When you reached the upper end of his thigh, you heard him pull in a breath between his teeth. Being so close to his face, you could actually hear what was going on behind his mask.  
A small turn of your head brought your face directly into the crook of his neck. The smell of machine oil mixed with a very light sheen of sweat and you greedily breathed in through your nose before pressing your lips to his skin. A faint shiver went through his whole body and you chuckled lowly. Your turning around had brought his one arm back down on the small of your back and it was now joined by his other one, both eagerly pulling you closer to him. You would have none of that yet and took your time exploring the small piece of exposed skin on his neck further with your lips, teeth and tongue.  
Only when you had thoroughly explored his skin, you allowed him to pull you on top of him and you could feel how much he had enjoyed your studies thus far. Now that he was better able to grasp you, his hands could start a little expedition themselves and immediately went towards your ass.  
Where you had been gentle, he was eager and where you had been thorough, he was greedy and quickly, he moved on upwards to unclasp your bra. He managed to do so in one swift movement and you couldn’t help but be impressed at his skilled fingers. Wondering about his fingers made parts of you clench around nothing and a soft moan escaped your lips. Of course, the bulge in his pants, pressed against your core had nothing to do with that. With a few swift movements, you pulled your bra out from beneath your shirt and started on his neck again.  
“Can I take off your hood?” you asked unsure. There wasn't enough of him that you could touch.  
You heard him chuckle beneath the mask and he pulled down the hood before quickly placing one hand on your ass and one on your upper back again. They didn’t stay there for long tough and moved to your front, one shyly grabbing your breast while the other one searched entry into your pants. Suddenly glad you had worn the stretchy harems pants, you lifted yourself up a bit, to give him better access.  
Another moan escaped your lips when he found your entrance with his fingers, this one not soft at all tough.  
Deeply inspired by his moves, you started fiddling with his pants as well.  
“Fuck yea.” he murmured and twisted to give you better access.  
“Idiot” you chuckled and strained to free him from his confines.  
“Yea, talk dirty to me.” he joked but was quickly shut up when you carefully let your fingers glide over his newly exposed skin, spreading the first drops of his excitement all over it. Once you started moving your hand, groaning was all the noise he could make. His fingers inside your pants got more eager in their movements and his other hand greedily kneaded your breasts. A few times you wished for his mouth, but the movements of his fingers inside of you made you forget all about the lack of his lips and teeth in the play a second later.  
He skillfully brought you ever closer and closer to your orgasm and the way his movements started getting jerky told you he was nearing the edge as well. “Make me cum.” you whispered in his ear and let your teeth graze his earlobe.  
Those three short words and a few more pumps seemed to be enough and you felt him spill all over you and himself.  
He stopped for a second to catch his breath and then pushed you down on your back. “I will make you cum so fucking hard.” he promised, climbing downwards on top of you, pulling your pants with him as he went.  
It was full dark by now, with only the moon illuminating you and you gasped in surprise and pleasure, when you felt his tongue touch you. Using his fingers he spread you apart and buried his face inside of you. Your eyes fluttered backwards in your head with every move of his tongue and bite of his teeth. “Oh fuck!!!” was all you could utter as you felt your climax near. You couldn’t help but shove your crotch upwards against his face as your legs started spasming with your approaching orgasm. And then you were beyond words and could do nothing but gasp anymore as you felt wave after wave of pleasure roll over you. After what felt like minutes you collapsed and let your legs fall to one side in exhaustion.  
“Damn…that was….fuck” you murmured as you felt him spoon you from behind.  
“Glad to be of service” he snickered and placed a kiss on the back of your neck. You thought of turning around to look at him but found you were too weak to move. The voice of David Attenborough describing a kind of carnivorous plant and your breathing were the only noises in the darkness.  
By the time you were able to move again, you turned around and found him wearing the mask again. About why he wore it, you were none the wiser.

You rested your head on his arm and closed your eyes, sure he’d have his reasons for hiding his face.  
“Hey, no falling asleep now!” Wrench gently shook you when he felt your breathing slow.  
“Huh? Why not? It’s so warm and calm out here…” you mumbled sleepily.  
“Yea, but this… I got to take back the car.” he said and there was a tinge of unease in his voice that not even the synthesizer in his mask could hide.  
Sitting up slowly and rubbing your eyes with a groan, you asked him why.  
“Well… whoever I borrowed it from didn’t exactly agree to my borrowing it.”  
That woke you up in a split second. “You… stole a car?”  
“Is it stealing if you intend to take it back?” he asked.  
“Wrench!” you quickly got up and started looking for your discarded clothes.  
“Noone I know has a pickup! And I needed a pickup! Or did you want to do this in a hatchback?” he tried defending himself. “Relax… it’s all good! I do this all the time and hardly anyone ever notices!”  
“Hardly anyone he says…” you mumbled to yourself and rubbed your hands over your face. The lovely afterglow from the orgasm was all blown away. “Take me home then…”  
“Are you mad?” he asked in a low voice.  
“Only if we get caught.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lovely fanfic of TheViperQueen inspired me to some of the phrases I used...  
> Consider this fanfic to your fanfic, you glorious woman!


	3. Son and Stabson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wrench has been in one of his moods for days... However will you cheer him up?  
> Also, some more relationship fluff and all around hilarity... and puns... very very bad puns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea for this part came to me when I was shopping yesterday and I saw a dress like the one Y/N is wearing.  
> My head immediately went to imagine how Wrench would react to his girlfriend wearing the dress (even tough they haven't yet had THE talk...).

You didn't hear from Wrench for a few days after your first date, which wasn't too bad, since you were busy with more job applications and interviews. You had finally made it into the second round as a graphic designer with Nudle and they had quite a few things for you to work on and show them you were good enough.  
After five days you grew anxious tough. Had you done anything wrong? It had felt as if Wrench had enjoyed himself as much as you, possibly even more, but you had been wrong about things like that before…  
Since Wrench had told you they worked together, you asked Sitara about him when she got home that evening.  
"He's okay... just in one of his moods..." was her reply.  
"Did I do anything wrong?" you asked.  
"I don't know... he doesn't talk to me about those things... Don't worry tough... He'll snap out of it sooner or later..."  
She didn’t seem to want to talk about it so you decided not to push the matter any further… for now.  
"Wanna get some ice cream and watch a movie or something?" you asked instead.  
"Yea... add some alcohol to that and we're golden!" she chuckled.  
You ended up watching Aristocats and as if on cue the cats joined you on the sofa.  
"By the way..." Sitara said about half an hour into the movie. "I thought about you still searching for an apartment... how about I clean out my spare room and you move in here, like… permanently?" she asked. "I always wanted to use the room as a studio, kinda, but I never work from here anyways, so... "  
"Are you serious?" you intercepted, "that would be a-fucking-mazing!!!"  
Sitara nodded and barely managed to put her bowl of ice cream away, before you squeezed her in a tight hug. Kali ended up being stuck between the two of you and meowed in protest.  
And just like that, what had been one of your biggest concerns for the past few weeks had melted into thin air.  
"Oh and if you want to see Wrench, you can come with me tomorrow. We're working on a project together, in his batcave." she said after you finally let go of her.  
"Sitara, you're amazing... like, seriously! I don't know what I'd do without you!"  
"I bet you’d be married and pregnant with your third baby or something." Sitara chuckled.  
"Ewww... probably!" you grimaced.  
***  
The next morning the two of you enjoyed a long nice breakfast and it was almost lunchtime, by the time you went out to meet Wrench.  
It was hot and the sun mercilessly burned down from the cloudless sky. You wore the flowery backless sundress you had bought the day before. It showed a lot of cleavage, but it was airy and just right for this kind of weather. How Sitara could bear her usual hotpants and ripped up long sleeved sweater in these temperatures was beyond you. But then, she was used to the heat. You were not.

Wrench's Batcave turned out to be a garage a little way outside of town.  
The second you got out of the car you could hear him curse and throw stuff around even though there was a closed garage door still separating you.  
Sitara rolled her eyes. "That’s his... other side..." she murmured, "you better get used to it, because he does that a lot...", then she carefully went to open the door.  
"Wrench? It’s me, please don't throw stuff!" she announced before opening the door all the way.  
He didn't reply but you heard metal clanking on metal and more cursing.  
"Look who I brought along!" Sitara said and grabbed you by the elbow to pull you into the garage after her. It took your eyes a few seconds do adjust to the shade inside. The heat was almost unbearable. The fans blowing from every possible direction didn't really make the sweltering heat any less oppressive.  
Wrench was still wearing long ripped jeans, but had exchanged his usual sweater for a short sleeved t-shirt, showing off his wiry, tattooed arms.  
"Fucking ass cunt shitfuck!" he screamed and kicked at the contrivance in front of him before turning in your direction.  
Seeing you, his shoulders, tense with rage a few seconds ago visibly relaxed and he let the sledgehammer he had been menacingly holding sink to his side. The display of his mask switched from an angry \\./ to <3 <3 for a second and then settled at *.*  
Seeing him in his natural surroundings, all worked up, did all kinds of things to your body and suddenly you weren't sure if all the moisture on your skin was from the heat anymore... especially below your waist.  
You walked towards him, careful not to step on the various tools and parts scattered on the floor.  
"Ass cunt shitfuck?" you repeated his curses with a grin on your face when you'd found your cool again.  
"Fucking gorgeous." he whispered not bothering to respond to your comment and probably not even aware he was talking out loud. His stare was stuck on your boobs, mesmerized by the pale skin.  
"Hey, my eyes are up here." you pushed his chin up with one careful finger, forcing him to look at your face.  
"But... they're so pretty." he murmured, his voice getting high with excitement. His gaze wandered downwards once more and he stroked the exposed part of your breast with one oil smeared finger, leaving a black grease stain.  
You sighed and looked down with mock annoyance on your face. "If you mess up my dress, I'm going to end you."  
Sitara chuckled from where she had settled down on the workbench. "You better believe her, because she will!" she confirmed.  
Wrench wiped his hands on the back of his jeans and held them up in front of your face for inspection. "Better?" They were still dirty but not as bad anymore.  
You shook your head and pointed at his black rimmed fingernails, deciding to tease him a bit more.  
"Awwwh... come on! This won't come off for a week! Don't torture me like that! You can't wear a dress like that and expect me not to be all over your gorgeous bod!" he looked you over as if confirming his statement.  
You laughed. "Idiot...", then gently bent his masked face to the side and kissed him on the neck, just below his ear. <3<3 lit up on his display again and he let out a soft sigh.  
"What are you working on?" you finally asked and walked towards the thing he'd been abusing.  
"I... I didn't want you to meet like that, but this... is my son. Wrench Jr." he shyly introduced.  
Sitara groaned as she heard his introduction. In front of her was what seemed to be the outer shell of Wrench's... son.  
"Your.... son." you slowly repeated. "Wait... They had those when I had my job interview at Nudle the other day! How did you get your hands on this?"  
"About that... I figured since you'd be staying with me, I could let you have a little look at what we really do..." Sitara piped up at your question.  
You blinked at her questioningly. "Okay?”  
"We... are dedsec" she stated as if that would explain everything.  
"Not following." you motioned for her to continue.  
"We're hackers!" Wrench threw in from the side. "And this is Sitara's and my little side project."  
"Hackers? What the fuck? Wasn't dedsec that radio station the other day?" you were confused.  
"Yea, we do that too..." Wrench said nonchalantly.  
You were still not entirely in the picture, but slowly managed to make sense of what they were trying to tell you.  
"So this.... is what you do for a living?" you motioned at the chaos around yourself.  
"Among other things, yes..." Wrench confirmed.  
"Then... why have I been looking for a fucking job for the past few weeks?" you shouted at them accusingly.  
Sitara chuckled. "Sorry... I just... "  
"You said you applied at Nudle? Having someone on the inside could come in handy." Wrench was all business all of a sudden. "We'll make that happen. Don't worry! You’re as good as hired."  
"But... I don't wanna work for fucking Nudle! I want to work with you guys, here!"  
"Sorry... no can do." Wrench said. "I wouldn't get anything done with your gorgeous ass around all day... and you'll make good money at Nudle, I'll personally make sure of that!"  
"And they got A/C!" Sitara chimed in, knowing how much you struggled with the heat.  
"Well thanks a lot..." you murmured, frustrated.  
"You're very welcome." Wrench replied and hugged you from behind, careful not to touch your dress with his dirty hands he nuzzled your neck with his spiked mask.  
***  
And like that, everything fell into place.  
As promised, you got the job. How exactly, you didn’t know. It was a great job with great pay and you even had health insurance. A fact that he others seemed to be a bit jealous about.  
Sitara started cleaning out her spare room and you started buying furniture. You saw Wrench almost every day. He went furniture shopping with you, and kept insisting he could make each and every item better if he made it from scratch himself.  
He allowed you to buy a mattress after reluctantly admitting he didn’t know how to make one of those.  
  
“Get off of me, you dumbass.” you chuckled, as he crawled on top of you in the matress store.  
“But how will we know if it’s springy enough for all the frick fracking we’re gonna do on it?” he asked and started dry humping you.  
“I think…. it’s gonna be…. just springy…. enough…” you pressed out between his humps, giggling.  
“You sure?” he asked and breathlessly rolled off of you.  
“Yea, pretty much…” you climbed on top of him and sat up cowgirl style.  
He started moving his hips up and down again, just to make sure.  
“Sir, Ma’am? Could you please stop that… you’re disturbing the other customers.” a store attendant interrupted you out of nowhere. You looked around and indeed, there was a family with two little kids standing behind you.  
Blushing, you climbed down from Wrench. “I’m sorry.” you murmured towards the family.  
Wrench sat up on the bed. “Sorry? What for? Kids need to learn where the babies come from! That’s how it works!” he said to the family and pointed between you and him.  
“This is outrageous!” the short, stocky woman shouted at the clerk. “Aren’t you going to do anything about this… this freak?” She pointed an accusing finger at Wrench and eyed him up and down judgmentally.  
Hearing Wrench be called a freak did something inside your head. You slowly turned towards her as you got up, looking her up and down, your eyebrows raised high with disapprovement.  
“Umm... excuse you?” you walked towards her menacingly. “Who gives you the right to call my boyfriend a freak? I mean you must probably be crazy frustrated. No wonder. I'd be too.  That girl’s age plus 9 months is probably the last time you’ve been properly fucked!”  
The woman looked at her husband helplessly. “Are you gonna let her talk to me like that?”  
“Well… she’s right, technically….” he said in a low voice.  
That earned him a waterfall of complaints from her.  
Chuckling, Wrench took your hand and pulled you towards the exit, as long as the two were occupied with each other.

Once you were through the automatic glass doors, he stopped and hugged you so tight, your feet lost contact with the ground for a second.  
“You just called me your boyfriend” he whispered in your ear.  
“I did, didn’t I?” you said thoughtful. “Is that…. is it okay?”  
“Is it okay? I love it!” he hugged you again, and you felt a bulge in his pants press against you.  
“You like it that much?” you chuckled, pointing towards his crotch.  
“I’ll show you just how much I like it once we’re home!” he said and made growling noises at you.

Wrench brought you a little housewarming gift that evening.  
“I bought it for when you’d finally get your own place… I didn’t think you’d be living with cats tough, so I had to upgrade it a bit… Let me introduce you to your new roommate… Stabby… my Stabson.” he chuckled and handed you a robot vacuum cleaner, with attached knife on top of it.  
“What the fuck?” you asked, pointing at the knife.  
“So he can defend himself against those furry monsters!” Wrench explained.  
You shook your head at his utter ridiculousness, couldn’t help but smile tough.  
“Aren’t you gonna say anything about my amazing pun?” he continued. “Stabson!? You get it?” he lightly punched you in the ribs with his elbow repeatedly. “Stabson!” he burst out into laughter.  
You rolled your eyes. “Yea… very funny…” He seemed so proud, you didn’t want to take the moment of joy away from him.  
“Stabson…” he was still chuckling to himself, obviously not needing your approvement. His own genius made him happy enough. 


	4. Unmasking *gasp*

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of sillyness, some drama, some fluff... and a cat surfing a robot vacuum.  
> What more could anyone ask for?

As promised, Wrench started making furniture for you.  
At the moment there was only the mattress and Sitaras old desk in the room.  
You had ended up ordering the mattress online with Wrench finding a coupon code online that gave you 95% discount at checkout. It didn’t seem entirely kosher, but seeing as your finances were still tight, you didn’t complain.

Wrench made the parts for your furniture in his garage and brought them to your place to assemble everything.  
He was quicker than expected and it didn’t even take him three days to make the first piece. You waited for his arrival after he had called and told you he’d bring the parts for your wardrobe in half an hour. You wore old cutoff jeans shorts and a wide, flowing tank-top. The radio was playing reggae music, since summertime was reggae time. A soft breeze was blowing through the open windows and for once the sky outside was cloudy. Hopefully there’d be rain coming later. Sitara was out again, working on a new sculpture with another artist called Ray.  
Mentioning Ray around Wrench never failed to bring a groan from his lips. He refused to say much else about him though, so you didn't know what exactly it was that was so bad about him.  
You sat on your mattress and worked on your very first project for Nudle. Finding out they didn’t care if you worked from the office or from home had been like Christmas and your Birthday at the same day. The only condition was that you finished your work on time and came to the office when there were important meetings. That seemed like a fair deal to you.  
When the doorbell finally rang, you put your laptop aside and went downstairs, to help Wrench carry up the parts. You had insisted the furniture be made with bare pine-wood and that it be simple and unadorned, the rest you had left up to him.  
He had already started unloading the first few parts and together you quickly carried everything upstairs.  
The cats seemed confused when you carried in the wood but eagerly went to inspect everything once you placed it on the floor. After putting down the last part, Kali jumped on top of it and started cleaning herself, thereby claiming the planks as hers.  
Boy was a bit more shy and only sniffed the edges before going back to his new favorite spot on top of Stabby and laying down with a yawn. Sitara had insisted Wrench remove the blade. Wrench had been appaled at her request to castrate his only stabson, but Sitara had been firm on that so now Boy had a new cat bed that sometimes moved around the room with him on top. He didn’t seem to mind that little detail tough.  
“So this is going to be a wardrobe? Are you sure you didn’t build me a whole kitchen or something?” there were what felt like a million parts to assemble.  
“Don’t criticize an artist!” Wrench said and proudly stepped one foot on the wood, leaning his elbow on his knee, posing for you. He wore the same ripped jeans he always seemed to wear, but had opted for a black dedsec t-shirt today.  
“Alright, alright… I’ll shut up! Want a drink before we start?”  
“Nah… I’d rather get this done first and then get proper drunk! If I drink now, I won’t be able to remember which part goes where,” he chuckled. “It’s gonna be hard enough as it is…”

Half an hour later, Wrench was cursing and kicking at parts. Nothing seemed to fit as planned. You stood next to him, trying very hard not to be in his way as he tried matching one part to another for the 5th time. The side pieces were standing already, but the top part didn’t seem to fit in between the two sides. It was precariously sitting on top of the two outer pieces. Everything was loose and wobbly.  
“You sure you don’t want a drink?” you asked Wrench in an attempt to get him to calm down a bit. “There’s beer in the fridge.”  
“Aaaargh!” was all he said. He kicked the side piece and in a chain reaction, the top piece fell off and directly onto his head. Wrench went down like a log.  
“Fuck!” you exclaimed. “Are you okay?”  
You went down on your knees next to him. His chest was moving up and down, but he didn’t react to your words.  
“Wrench?” you tried once more and gently prodded his shoulder.  
He still didn’t react.  
“Fuck!” you repeated. He had knocked himself out. It would have been funny if you hadn’t been so worried. Thinking back to the first aid class you had taken a few years earlier, you remembered to take everything away that could make breathing hard for an unconscious person.  
His mask was holy to him and he still hadn’t shown you his face, but his need to breathe was probably more important now than whatever he was hiding.  
With shaking fingers you moved to unclasp the strap that held the mask in place. Taking a deep breath, bracing yourself for the worst, you pulled the mask away and looked at his face.  
Seeing him was absolutely anticlimactic. There was no dark secret, no disformations, nothing. He looked positively innocent, laying there, eyes closed. Almost as if he was sleeping. Shyly you pet his cheek with your fingers for the very first time. Brushing his longish ash blond hair to the side revealed a huge reddish mark around his left eye and up to his forehead.  
Was that why he hid his face?  
You pulled your cushion from the matress and put it under his head, then stood up and got a wet cloth from the bathroom. Gently, you wiped his brow and neck, before letting the cloth rest on his forehead.  
After only a few minutes, he started stirring and blinked his eyes a few times. You breathed a sigh of relief.  
“What the fuck?” he murmured and his hand went to his face. When he didn’t find his mask there, his eyes went wide with panic. “Where….” he started, before he saw you sitting next to him. “What happened?” he asked, confused, gingerly taking the wet cloth from his forehead.  
“You knocked yourself out. I took off your mask so you could breathe easier.” With gentle fingers you brushed the few wet strands of hair that stuck to his face to the side. "Are you mad?"   
“You…” he didn’t seem to know what to say for a moment when he moved his fingers to gently touch his mark.  
“What is it?” you asked.  
“Burn-scar…” he murmured. With a groan he sat up and rubbed his face once more. “So… about that drink…”

“Is that the reason for the mask?” you asked him and pointed to the scar. He had a can of beer in his hands, holding on to it as if his life depended on it. Both of you were sitting at the kitchen table.   
“Can we like… not have this talk just now?” he asked, voice annoyed. It was odd, hearing him without the synthesizer.  
“Sorry…” you murmured. “But… just so you know… IF it WAS the reason… I wouldn’t mind it.”  
“Yea, whatever…” he stood up and walked out of the kitchen.  
You sighed but decided to give him a few more minutes to find his composure.  
The kitchen window was open and you could hear thunder growling in the distance. With a cup of coffee in your hand, you leaned on the windowsill and looked out, enjoying the fresh breeze.  
  
A few minutes later, you felt Wrench behind you. He placed his hands on your hips and pressed his groin against your ass. Laughing, you moved to stand and pressed your body against his, despite the heat. You moved together, slow dancing to the reggae beats and he gently nuzzled your neck from behind. “You can’t believe how long I’ve wanted to do that.” he murmured and greedily breathed in your scent.  
You wiggled around within his arms so you faced him, pressing your lips against his for a short peck. “You can’t believe how long I’ve wanted to do this!” you repeated his words.  
“Hmmm…” he made and kissed you back. Careful at first, but quickly the kiss grew to be much much more. To be able to feel him like that after having been denied it for so long…  
His lips were chapped but much softer than anyone’s lips had the right to be. Your hands were all over his head and buried into his hair and every so often you broke the kiss to admire his face and let your fingers glide over his smooth skin. There was some stubble around his jawline but not much. You let your cheek glide against his with closed eyes, like a cat wanting to feel every inch of him.  
“What are you doing?” he chuckled.  
“Shut up and let me enjoy your face.” you said and placed your hand on his mouth dismissively.  
“So you really don’t mind?” he asked.  
“Why would I?” you placed a kiss on his eyebrows and let your fingers glide over the scar tissue. “Does it hurt?”  
“Only sometimes…“ he murmured and absentmindedly touched the scar as well.  
“Well… let me know next time, so I can heal it with my kisses,” you murmured and kissed him again.  
“You’re fucking crazy.” he snorted, lifting you up on the kitchen counter.  
Laughing, you wrapped your legs around him and held him close.  
“Well… now that the face is out of the bag, so to say… how about we make proper use of it?”  
“Yea, and how would you do that?”  
“Oh, I’m sure we can think of something!” you whispered, your face again buried in his neck.  
You felt his fingers sneak under your shirt and trace your spine. The small movements made you shiver.  
Encouraged by your reaction, he pulled your shirt over your head.  
“Fuck you can’t imagine how long I’ve wanted to do THAT!” he said and buried his face between your boobs, squeezing them together.  
You laughed but were quickly shut up by his fingers pulling down the cups of your bra. A soft moan escaped your lips when he made his way towards your nipples with his mouth, biting, licking, sucking.  
“I’ll never have sex with you with that stupid mask on ever again.” he promised, kissing you on the lips, his hands never leaving your breasts.  
With quick fingers, he unhooked your bra and let it slide off your arms.  
“So. fucking. gorgeous.” he murmured, kissing his way down your neck between each word. He seemed so hungry for you, eyes full of want, fingers greedy, callouses on his hands softly scratching your skin wherever he moved.  
It only registered at the very edge of your mind, that it had started raining outside. The sound of a million drops hitting the pavement was calming. The wind had freshened up and the cold air made goosebumps pop up all over your exposed skin.  
Wrench’s hands eagerly slid up and down your body, seemingly wanting to be everywhere at once. With one hand on your back, his other hand finally settled on the inside of your thigh, moving upwards. Your legs were still locked around him.  
He let his fingers glide inside the legs of your shorts and caressed the line where leg meets groin for a second, before moving out again to unbutton your pants.  
The rain was so loud outside, that neither of you heard the door being unlocked. Only when Sitara loudly announced she was home you realized you weren’t alone anymore.  
“Don’t come in here!” you shouted, jumping down from the counter to get your bra and shirt from the floor. Wrench stood stock still, staring at you, his back to the doorway. The mask was still in your bedroom.  
Of course, Sitara didn’t let your shout stop her from entering the kitchen. “Oooooh! Did I interrupt you?” she exclaimed, when she saw your half-dressed state. You were clutching the bundle of your clothes in front of your chest.  
“Wait…. Aren’t you wearing your mask?” she said towards Wrench, who was still only showing her his back.  
“Go away.” he said.  
“Oh my god! Is that how your voice actually sounds?” Sitara asked, all excited.  
“Go away!” Wrench repeated.  
“Sitara...”, you said and shot her a glare. “Stay here, I’ll get your mask.” you said to Wrench and kissed him on the temple.  
“Alright… sorry…” Sitara murmured and followed you towards your room. You had put your bra back on and were just slipping your shirt over your head.  
“I want to know every detail of what happened here later…” she whispered.  
“Yes, yes, later…” you rolled your eyes and pushed her towards her own room.  
“This is so exciting!” she said, jumping up and down just before you closed the door in her face.  
You shook your head with a smile. “Silly woman.” you said to the door, knowing she was probably standing right behind it and listening.  
Back in the kitchen, you handed Wrench his mask. “Let me have one more good look.” you said before letting go.  
You let your fingers glide over his skin as if saying goodbye. “I want to see you like that more often.” 


	5. Adventures in 3D Printing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea to this chapter came to me when I got drunk with my friend... it consists of mostly dick jokes and bad puns, with no plot at all... I apologize...  
> #sorrynotsorry

“Okay, I admit it… woodworking might not be one of my many strengths…” Wrench gave up in defeat. He sat on a little heap of cut wood parts with no idea how to assemble them into something you could even remotely use to put your clothes into.  
The plank that had knocked him out the day before still sat in time out. The huge bump on his head served as a reminder of the accident and Wrench was sure the wood was possessed by an evil spirit.  
“Argh… fuck it!” he threw his tools in the corner and got up. “Stop laughing and get me a beer, one of you!”  
Sitara and you stood in the doorway to your room. Watching Wrench struggle for the past two hours had been great fun. He hadn’t allowed you to help, murmuring something about masculinity.

  
“Maybe you should stick to 3D printing stuff instead.” you heard Sitara say to Wrench, as you came back into the room with three cans of cold beer in your hands and an ice pack in your back pocket.  
Wrench immediately grabbed his beer and turned away to take a sip. When he turned back towards you, !.! had replaced the usual *.* on his mask. “I really could 3D print something for you.”  
“Yea, like what?” you handed him the ice pack for his head. Now that he was done proving what a big, strong man he was, he could indulge a little in girly comforts like that.  
“Like… an exact replica of my dick!” he exclaimed in excitement.  
Sitara groaned and turned around to walk away. When one of you started like that, things usually turned towards the disgusting end of the scale pretty quickly. Disgusting for anyone but you and Wrench; the two of you enjoyed your little dirty chats immensely.  
“And I could make it vibrate!” he thought out loud, placing his fingers on his chin in thought and slowly nodding to himself. “And it could glow in the dark! What do you think?”  
“Could you make it so it doesn't give me cancer?” the thought of putting something that glowed in the dark inside or near your vagina made you slightly uneasy. “And maybe if you could somehow manage it made me cum in under three hours?” you teased.  
You heard a bark of laughter from Sitara in the living room.  
“Challenge accepted!” Wrench said and made a Superman pose in your room. You could practically see his cape flutter in the wind behind him.

“I’ll clean this up later… gotta go design that baby!” he said after the moment had passed. In one big gulp, he emptied his beer can.   
Stepping over the chaos in your room, he handed you the empty can and ice pack and gently bumped his forehead to yours. This was your version of a quick kiss, since everything else was either impossible or at least very painful with his mask.  
“Wha…. are you serious? Look at this mess!” You tried stopping him but he was already at the door. “We’ll have a bonfire in the weekend!” he said. "I'll clean this up then," and then he was gone. 

“Remind me again, why you allowed me to fall for him?!” you said to Sitara a minute later. She was sitting at her desk that had been moved to the living room and working on a pencil sketch.  
“I thought it would be fun!” she said. “And honestly… it is!”

You quietly agreed to that, a smirk playing around your lips. In between the two of you constantly teasing each other and his crazy ideas and shenanigans, you were enjoying yourself immensely. That Wrench's weirdness didn't stop at the bedroom door was another very welcome trait.

 

For the next two days, you only received short replies to your texts from Wrench that consisted mostly of him telling you he was busy with dedsec stuff. You missed him but occupied yourself with work and crafting furniture for the cats out of the wood in your room.

You went out for dinner with Sitara and Marcus on the second evening. Marcus had been trying to work with Wrench all day long but had given up. Wrench had been too preoccupied with his other project.  
“I gotta say… we’ve been slowing down considerably since you and Wrench started dating.” Marcus scolded, gesturing at you with his fork.  
“Sorry…” you winked. “I can’t help being this sexy.”  
“Keep your charms to yourself!” he chuckled. “What is he working on anyways?”  
“Oh you don’t want to know…” Sitara chimed in shaking her head in defeat.

Half an hour later, Wrench called you on your phone.   
“I’m about to print it and thought you might wanna share this moment with me…” you knew without seeing him his mask was showing heart eyes right that moment.  
“Sure!” you laughed. “We’re done eating anyways…”  
“We?” he sounded confused.  
“Marcus and Sitara… Can they come with?”  
“Meh… if they must….”  
“Cool! We’ll be there in a few!” 

Marcus drove you to the dedsec HQ, where their 3D Printer was. You had never been there before and were slightly excited.  
The arrival was anticlimactic tough. You stopped in front of a store for tabletop games. Looking around you, confused, you followed the two of them inside. It was late, so the store had been locked up for the evening but Marcus had a key and let the three of you inside, locking the door again behind you.

Sitara led the way towards a back door and punched a number of keys into a lock pad. She motioned for you to go through the door and down a flight of stairs.

The walls were graffittied all over in Sitara’s designs. “Quite impressive.” you murmured over your shoulder towards her. Looking around you and trying to take everything in, Wrench's appearance out of the dark startled you.   
“Welcome to our base of operations!” he said and gestured around himself. “This is where the magic happens…. and occasional homoerotic movie nights.” he winked at Marcus and blew him a kiss.  
Marcus laughed and blew a kiss back.  
You snorted. “Do I need to get jealous, you lovebirds?”  
“Yes, very! But can you really blame anyone for being all over THE Wrench? Come here!” Wrench took your hand and led you towards what must be the printer, then sat down on a laptop next to it and started typing. “We should be done in… about 40 minutes.” he announced.  
“Seriously?” you turned towards him, annoyed.  
“Nah… I paused it, when I heard you come in. Should be done in a few minutes… “ he chuckled.   
“Idiot..." you scolded, slapping his arm. You had to admit that you were kinda excited though.  
Wrench put his arms around you from behind and rested his chin on your shoulder. Both of you were staring at the 3D Printer like expecting parents.  
  
When the printer was done, Wrench opened the little sliding door at the front and pulled out… a very soft and wobbly looking printed dick… or aubergine… something longish and purple in any case.  
“So you want every time to be like our first time together?” you joked, poking the thing.  
“I thought we agreed to never talk of that again, like ever?” he hissed so the others wouldn’t hear.  
“Sorry…” you chuckled. “Won’t happen again… possibly.”  
“I must have messed up the settings somewhere… give me a second, I’ll fix this.” he got serious all of a sudden. “Go play with the others…” he shooed you away towards Marcus and Sitara.

You took a few minutes to inspect the room. It was mostly computers and parts of computers that cluttered every surface. Lots of screens on the walls and what looked like a drone on one of the desks in the back. In one corner, there were a few lockers which everyone's names on it and a vending machine full of dedsec branded clothes next to them.

Marcus was playing Assassins Creed and Sitara was drawing in her sketchbook, sitting next to him. None of them paid any attention to Wrench’s antics. They were probably used to his ways.  
With a thump you sat down on the sofa with them just as Marcus was doing a beautifully executed air drop-double assassination on two guards. It was glorious watching him play. He moved the assassin through the game-world gracefully.  
When he handed you the controller you felt extremely clumsy compared to him.  
“That's only because I'm not used to X-Box Controllers! Pony Slay Station all the way.” you hissed, when Marcus teased you for falling down from a watchtower, barely surviving the drop.

You were so inversed in the game, you didn't notice Wrench raving about the second try with the printer until he showed up next to you and practically shoved the vibrator in your face.  
You startled and pushed a wrong button which got your assassin detected and killed almost immediately.  
“Must you do this?” you scolded and pushed him away playfully. Marcus laughed and took the controller from you. Dying in game meant losing the controller in real life.

“I’m all done! Look at it! Even put the motor in!” He waved the fake dick in your face, earning disgusted looks from Sitara and Marcus.  
Blushing, you stood up and pulled Wrench in the corner farthest away from the other two.  
“They don’t need to see… everything!” you said and took the vibrator from Wrench. It felt good in your hands, all smooth and nice. “How do I turn it on?” you asked after you had thoroughly inspected it from all angles.  
“You don’t… I do.” he took out his phone, pushed a button on the screen and your new toy started buzzing.  
“I… kinda like that, I think…” you murmured and all kinds of dirty images flashed up in your mind.  
Not even 30 seconds later, the vibrator started getting pretty warm in your hand.  
“Is that supposed to happen?” you asked and made Wrench touch his dick replica.

“Feels kinda like the real thing.” he murmured, weighing it in his hand appreciatively. “But I didn’t build in a heating function…. Huh… getting quite hot…” he juggled it between his hands a few times, before letting it fall onto the work surface next to him. Getting his phone, he tried and failed turning it off. “Fuck” he murmured when the buzzing didn’t stop, making his dick wander all over the surface before it started smoking and finally stopped working altogether.  
“If you want to permanently scar me, you’re doing a great job.” you said, looking at him horrified.  
“I think I got another motor at my place…” he scratched his head. "I'll finish you... erm... this off tomorrow!"   
  



	6. The good, the bad and the ugly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wrench is struggling with a bad phase and pulling back from his work and his friends. Y/N manages to pull him out of it, with the power of her love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was feeling pretty shitty today, and I needed some angsty fluff... but I couldn't find anything good... so I wrote some... I don't know if its good, but it definitely is angsty and fluffy.

Wrench didn’t call you the next day, or the day after that.  
You had both gone home to your respective places after chilling in the dedsec HQ and Wrench had promised to finish your little present.  
You were used to him not always being available but when your calls started to go straight to voicemail, you got a bit anxious. “I can’t get to the phone just now… probably busy banging your mum… you know what to do” you slowly got tired of hearing his outgoing message.  
Marcus and Sitara told you not to worry, since he just was like that sometimes but on the third day, you grew restless.  
“Hey can you give me Wrench’s address?” you asked Sitara over breakfast. “I really feel like I should go check on him."  
“He lives in a trailer behind that garage he’s always working in.” Sitara explained. “Or… it was parked there the last time I checked… I think he’d have mentioned, if he’d moved it. Do you remember how to get there?”  
“Yea, I think… I’ll take your car.” you got up before Sitara could protest and took her keys. “Thanks” you murmured as you gave her a little kiss on the top of her head.  
"But...." Sitara started, but her voice was cut off by the door falling shut.

 

Half an hour later, you arrived at Wrench’s garage. You had gotten a bit confused on the way, taking a few wrong turns, but finally managed to find it and parked in front of the garage.  
Everything was quiet so far out of town.   
Walking to the back side of the building, you found a beat up, old RV parked in the shade of an even older tree.  
“Wrench?” you shouted, walking towards it. No answer.  
You knocked on the door, but again, no one answered.  
When you tried the handle, the door opened with a creak. “Wrench?” you softly said, as you entered.  
The air was thick with heat and the smell of beer and unwashed male. The floor was littered with half empty beer cans and fast food containers. “Wrench, where are you?” you tried once more, carefully making your way through the trash.  
“Go away…” you heard a muffled voice from somewhere to your left.  
“Wrench, what’s wrong?” you said, moving towards his voice. His real voice, no mask.  
No answer. You pulled aside the curtain that separated the bedroom from the rest of the space.  
Wrench was sitting in the far left corner of the room, squeezed between the bed and the sidewall, hugging his knees. He wore nothing but a pair of dark boxers that had seen better times, as far as you could tell. His mask lay on the nightstand next to him, display oddly black.  
The blinds were closed and it was almost completely dark in the room despite the sun shining outside.  
“Wrench what’s wrong?” you asked and hurried to kneel down in front of him.  
His face was hidden in between his arms. He didn’t move.  
Careful, you put your hand on his shoulder. His skin was cool and clammy despite the oppressing heat. “Are you alright?”  
Again he said nothing, but he also didn’t push you away, which you took as a positive sign. You sat down next to him, legs crossed, which was quite a feat, considering the small space.  
You sighed when you realized how much you had missed him.  
“What’s wrong?” you repeated after a few minutes of silence.  
“Nothing…. everything…. I don't know...” he murmured, face still hidden.  
You said nothing but moved your hand down from his shoulder, to pet his arm.  
The room was quiet, except for the sound of your breaths.  
“Do you mind if I open a window?” you asked after a while. “I don't think there's a lot of oxygen left in here."  
“I don’t deserve oxygen.” he said with a sigh.  
“Oh yes you do!” awkwardly, you got up and bent down to kiss him on the top of his head. “Oxygen and so much more.”  
The windows didn’t open, but could only be tilted. Still better than suffocating.  
“I don’t…” he said and finally looked up at you, eyes hollow and dark.  
“Stop contradicting me!” you sat down on the bed next to him. The grey-ish sheets were in terrible need of changing but you didn’t say anything. He obviously had other things occupying his mind.  
With a sigh, he turned to rest his head on your knee, hugging your lower legs. You placed your hand in his hair and gently massaged his scalp. “Don’t you wanna come up here?”  
“I don’t deserve to sit on furniture…” he murmured, voice shaky.  
“Wrench…” you sighed, not knowing what else to say. There was nothing you could say that would make any of this better. You could feel sobs shaking his whole body and tears filled your eyes at seeing him like that. What could possibly go on in his head that made him feel so bad about himself? You didn’t want to imagine how he must feel inside.  
  
After a few minutes, his sobs grew less and less frequent and his breathing evened out. A soft snore told you he had fallen asleep. He must have been exhausted. Who knew how long he had been sitting there in the corner like that, lacking the strength to get up and take care of himself.  
Carefully you tried to untangle your legs from his grasp so you could clean up a bit and maybe even get him to sleep on the bed, after putting on some fresh sheets. You really hoped he owned a second pair.  
“Don’t go away…” he murmured and grabbed your legs tighter.  
“I won’t!” you promised.  
“You will… once you realize how messed up I really am….” he sighed and dramatically let his head fall on your knee once more.  
You moved down to the ground again, he slumped to the side, weakly leaning against the bed, sighing as you pulled him close and hugged him tight.  
“I won’t leave.” you whispered in his ear. “But will you please let me take care of you?”  
“What for? We’re all gonna die anyways…”  
“Yea, but I’d really love to spend some more time with you before that. And if you wouldn’t smell like a hobo, spending time with you would be so much more enjoyable. Come on!”  
You groaned, as you dragged him to his feet. He was heavy, despite his bony frame.  
Once he stood on his own two legs, he followed you with a hanging head as you dragged him into the tiny bathroom.  
“Do you need help or can you do it on your own?” you were only half joking. He looked awfully frail. “When was the last time you had anything to eat? Want me to order us some takeout?”  
“Can you…. make those noodles you made when we first met?” he asked, voice raspy.  
“Do you have anything edible in the kitchen?”  
“Probably not… I’m sorry… I’m useless….” he bumped his head against the wall in defeat.  
“No you’re not…” you said and took his face between your hands. Carefully, you pressed your lips against his forehead in a chaste kiss.

“Take your time and holler if you need anything.” you said, closing the folding door.  
Checking the kitchen cupboards you came up with nothing but more beer, a can of corn and a questionable carton of milk in the fridge. Not even you could make anything out of that, so you simply ordered some spaghetti from an Italian restaurant close by.  
You hadn’t noticed the unwashed dishes in the sink when you had entered earlier but made a mental note to clean them up once Wrench was feeling a bit better. Cluttered surroundings equaled cluttered mind, after all.  
Fresh linens came second and at last you even got to collect the empty beer cans and other trash from the ground. The rest would have to wait, since Wrench was coming out of the bathroom at that moment. He was dripping wet and looked at you like a sad puppy.  
“My towel is disgusting…” he murmured, walking into his bedroom and tiredly pulled on a fresh pair of boxers.  
“Did you change the sheets?” he asked from the bedroom.  
You nodded. “There was nothing edible here so I ordered takeout… it should be here in a minute.”  
“Thank you,” he whispered, sighing deeply. He stood smack in the middle of the bedroom, his head hanging low, looking at the bed.  
You walked towards him and put your arms around him from the side.    
He was still wet, but it was so hot, you welcomed the cool waterdrops on your skin. 

Once food arrived, you went outside to eat in the shade of the tree. There were two not entirely trustworthy folding chairs and a battered sidetable. You could hear the noises from the freeway far behind you and the rustling of leaves in the cool breeze from the sea, but otherwise it was quiet.  
Wrench was still only wearing his boxers. You had pulled off your pants as well, since there were only the two of you around and it made the heat much more bearable.  
For the very first time since you'd known him, you noticed the scars on the insides of his wrists. They were usually hidden under the studded leather bracelets he always wore, but he wasn’t hiding anything from you now. He was bared before you in mind and body.

Wrench seemed to feel a bit more talkative, now that he’d had a shower and some food in his belly. “I had some cereal… yesterday I think… or Tuesday… what day is it today?” he mumbled, swallowing a mouth full of noodles.  
“It’s Friday…” you said worried. “Please never do this again! Next time you feel shitty, tell me! That’s what I’m here for, you know?” you placed your hand on his knee pleadingly.  
He shook his head and swallowed before talking. “That’s not how this shit works… The dark voice inside my head... it won't allow me to call you.”  
You sighed. “I know… but… if you need anything to make you feel better... like… anything at all, please just say something. If you need help getting out of that downward spiral, just... take my hand, okay? If you wanna talk or hang out or even just take a nap together... I'll be here for you!"  
He nodded and stared at the ground between his feet for a few seconds. "Can we have that nap right now?"  
"Sure, you go inside, I'll clean things up and join you in a minute." you got up from your chair and held out your hand to help him up.

"I'm not sure when I last slept...." he said, as he sat down on the bed a minute later, scratching his head thoughtfully, before laying down on his side, smack in the middle of the mattress.  
You sighed and swore to yourself you'd never let him get this bad again.   
Throwing your shirt and bra to the ground, you made yourself comfortable in front of him, so you could look him in the eyes. Both of you were in your undies. There was nothing sexual about it though.   
"Can we...." he said and turned around, so his back was to you. "Can I be the small spoon?" he scooched backwards till his body met yours. Smiling you wrapped your arms around him.  
"Sure. Sleep." you whispered and nuzzled your face against his neck.  
Slowly he relaxed against you and the tension left his body.  
Only when he started snoring softly, you allowed yourself to relax as well and soon you fell asleep too.

 

You lay on your belly when you woke up. Wrench was tracing patterns on your naked back with his fingertips. He was propped up on one elbow and dreamily looked at you. His face seemed at peace.  
“Did I wake you up?” he asked.  
You nodded, but didn’t move otherwise.  
“Sorry.” he whispered.  
“Don’t stop, that was nice.” you said and wiggled your ass and back a bit.  
“Don’t stop this! That’s nice too!” Wrench chuckled and let his fingers glide downwards from your back towards your ass, to play with the elastic of your panties.  
You closed your eyes and enjoyed his caresses. The sun was setting outside and the few lazy sunrays that got in through the blinds, painted striped patterns on the bed. A soft breeze cooled your skin.   
“Why haven’t we done this before?” Wrench asked.  
“I don’t know… you’re the one that always leaves after having sex… only thing that’s missing is leaving me money on the nightstand and I’d feel like a hooker!” you teased.  
“Sorry… just takes some time getting used to people actually enjoying having me around.” he murmured, eyes downcast.  
“Wrench!” you said and reached out for him, gently cupping his face to make him look at you. “I love having you around! If it was up to me, I’d wake up like this every day for the rest of my life!”  
He blinked at you and for a second you were worried you'd overdone it with your confessions of love.   
“Fuck I didn’t believe I could feel like that about anyone…” he finally said.  
“Like what?”  
“Like… the thought of waking up with you for the rest of my life... I think I'd love that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know from own experience this isn't how mental illness and depressive episodes work, but this is fictional, so... I figured for the sake of getting on with the story, I'll give the chapter a happy ending...


	7. Throwing Rocks at the bad guys... literally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marcus gets in trouble. Wrench, big mighty hero that he is, goes to save him. Y/N plays a leading part in the rescue. And of course, more dick jokes!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this starts off right after the last chapter ended... a bit more action than usual, but some dumb jokes as well... I hope people enjoy those... I sure do!

You had almost fallen back asleep, when your phone started ringing.  
It was somewhere in a pile of your clothes on the floor and it took you half a minute of half nude squatting until you finally found it. Sitara's name showed up on the display.   
"Hey, whats up?" you answered.  
"Are you still at Wrench's place?" she said without greeting, voice keyed up.  
"Yea what..."  
"Let me talk to him!" she demanded. You knew this tone of voice. She wasn’t in a joking mood.  
You handed your phone to Wrench, with a shrug.  
As soon as he greeted her, Sitara started talking so fast, you couldn't understand the stream of words anymore, but you knew something bad had happened when Wrench practically jumped up from the bed.  
"Get dressed." he ordered. Phone held between shoulder and ear, he awkwardly pulled on a pair of pants.  
You were confused, but did as he told you.  
"Where's my phone?" he asked after hanging up. He pulled a shirt over his head and put on his mask with practiced movements before grabbing his studded vest from the ground.  
"I don't know... but you're out of battery... my calls went straight to voicemail. What’s happening?"  
"Marcus needs my help.... fuck!" he exclaimed. His phone was in the kitchen, switched off indeed. "We'll have to use yours then... ", his mask was still going through the initializing process and various exclamations were blinking on the display. You didn't need his display to tell you how riled up he was though.

"Aaargh!" he cursed wordlessly once you were outside. It was evening and the sun had almost vanished behind the horizon.  
"What’s fucking happening?" you asked again. His tension was rubbing off on you.  
"I took apart my car.... fucking shit!", he ushered you towards the driver’s side of Sitara’s car. "You're driving; I need to focus on this."  
"Sitara, send our app to Y/N's phone!" he bellowed a voice message to Sitara.  
"What are you doing?" you were utterly confused now. What was happening? Everything had been so calm a second ago.

"Sit! Drive!" he ordered and climbed in on the passenger side.  
"Where to?"  
"Left, then follow the road to the highway!"  
You decided to clear things up later and concentrated on driving for now.  
Wrench was typing furiously on your phone. His own lay in the middle console, display black.  
Once you were on the road, he seemed to calm down somewhat.  
"So why did you take apart your car?" you asked.  
"To distract myself." he answered courtly.  
"Distract?"  
"Yea yea... coping mechanism... don't think about it! I'll get another one." Again, he was focusing on your phone. Out of the corner of your eye you saw he was restarting it.  
"Take a right here." he suddenly said.  
You did as you were told and drove onto the ramp to the freeway.... only to stop a few seconds later. There was a massive traffic jam before you.  
"Fuck!" it was your turn to curse. You turned to look at Wrench questioningly.  
"Not to-fucking-day!" he cursed, already typing on your phone again.  
And all of a sudden, the cars in front of you parted like the red sea before Moses. The ones on the right lane all drove to the right in sync and the ones left of you all drove to the left.  
Horns were blaring and alarms beeping but the road right before you was free.  
"What the....." you looked at the chaos around you in utter confusion.  
"Drive!" Wrench ordered.  
"But... how did you do that?" you asked, accelerating in between the other vehicles. Angry drivers were getting out of their cars and shouting at each other. When they saw you coming, their anger all turned towards you.  
With shaking hands, you pressed the button that locked the doors.  
"Every car is basically a computer… which means it can be hacked just like every other computer…" Wrench explained.  
You couldn't go very fast. Whenever someone new noticed how you were driving while their cars were crashed and partially broken, they tried to get in your way, instinctively knowing you were what had caused their misery.  
"Sitara is gonna kill us." you murmured but drove on nonetheless, almost grazing an angry guy in a business suit.

At the head of the jam, you saw there were two crashed cars half blocking the road, only leaving one lane for the ongoing traffic.  
With the added crashes Wrench had produced to free the road, this whole site would likely take a lot longer to clean up.   
You were slowly passing, trying not to draw attention to yourselves, which was kinda hard, since you had been driving on a free lane made especially for you.  
A few opportunists had taken up to follow you through, ignoring the chaos around them, which kinda made you blend in a bit.  
The policemen working on the accident seemed utterly confused. One of them had taken off his hat and was scratching his head actually. It would have been fun, if you hadn’t been so stressed.  
When you left the crash behind, the road ahead was free.  
"Speed up... we lost a shitton of time back there." Wrench ordered.  
You did as you were told. "What are we gonna do once we're there? Wherever 'there' is."  
"Marcus got shot and can't walk. He's hiding and we gotta get him outta there."  
"He got shot?" you exclaimed. For a second you lost control of the car, swerving to the lane next to you. "What the fuck was he doing?" You grabbed the wheel tighter and got the car under control again.   
"Stealing data of course. He's at that crazy new age church... church of dawn of whatever..." Now that you were on your way again, he seemed to calm down, while you got more and more nervous the closer you got to your goal.  
Your friends getting shot wasn't a daily occurrence in your life.  
"So we're gonna go in there and get him out?"  
"I'm gonna go in there. You'll wait in the car and get our asses out of there once I'll be back with Marcus."  
"But... they have guns. You can't go in there! They'll shoot you too!"  
"I'd like to see them try." he said and opened the glove box to pull out a tazer. "Fucking assholes... shooting my friends...." he murmured to himself. "Take a right turn here and turn off the headlights!"  
You turned onto a smaller road and slowed down.   
Wrench had a map app opened on your phone and was directing you up a hill towards a certain spot.  
"Alright... let me out here and turn the car around. We shouldn't be long." he murmured, voice low.  
  
There were a few trees and bushes growing on the hill, nothing much to use as a cover though. Thankfully it was almost completely dark, so Wrench's black clothes blended in with his surroundings quickly. You followed him with your eyes as he made his way to the top of the hill.   
The church building probably was on the other side.   
Once you couldn't see him anymore, you were all alone in the dark. You let down the windows and carefully turned the car around, then stopped the engine and listened to every sound you heard outside. For the moment, only crickets chirped.  
Your heart was beating fast. You hooked Wrench's phone up to the charger to have something to do with your hands. Waiting a few minutes for the battery to charge, nervously drumming your fingers on the steering wheel, you turned the phone on. When prompted to enter the PIN-code, you took a wild guess and entered 6969. It worked. Of course it worked. You rolled your eyes and held back a laugh, momentarily forgetting to worry.  
As soon as you could, you texted Sitara.  
[We're here... I'm waiting in the car. Wrench has my phone] you sent her. [Can I do anything to help?]  
Only a second later, she called you.  
"I got all of you on screen. They're already heading towards your direction." she said, not waiting for you to say anything.  
"There's a couple of guards still looking for them. Let's hope they don't spot you."  
Your heartbeat sped up again. "Are they okay?" you whispered.  
"Marcus is limping pretty bad but Wrench has him. You should see them... Fuck!"  
"What?" you asked.  
"There's a guard walking towards them... shit!"  
"Should I... do anything?" you asked.  
"Maybe.... can you throw something?"  
You looked around and carefully opened the door to search the ground around the car.  
"Which direction?" you asked, stretching half outside the car. The chord of the charger was pretty short.  
"Just up the hill..." Sitara said. You rolled your eyes. Great instructions.  
"Okay... I'll be right back."  
You hung up and left the phone on the driver’s seat. Walking a few steps through the darkness you found a rock, about tennis-ball size. You also found the guard, walking on the very top of the hill. The lights from the other side illuminated him and you saw his shape clearly while you yourself remained hidden, hopefully.   
Picking up the rock you took a deep breath, aimed and threw... and hit the guard straight on the head.  
He went down with a groan.  
Wrench's yip of joy made you turn your head and you saw two men get up from the ground, one leaning on the other heavily. Wrench was a bit taller than Marcus, which made their run look quite awkward.  
"That was fucking great!" Wrench shouted when they reached you. "I'd kiss you if we had the time... get in the car!"  
You opened the back door for them before getting in the driver’s seat yourself.   
Both crawled in on the back seat with Marcus groaning at the movement.  
"Are you alright?" you asked, starting the engine.  
"We are now!" Wrench said joyfully.   
Marcus groaned once more. “I’ll live.”  
You drove off, leaving the guards charging down the hill behind.  
"I'm so fucking hard for you just now. My god, what a shot! I’m gonna bang you so hard later." Wrench blurted out and made a growling noise towards you.  
"I don't care what you do later, but please, get your hard-on away from me." Marcus groaned. He was half leaning on Wrench, so he could continue putting pressure on his wound.  
"I almost forgot! I brought you this, for the pain!" Wrench said and produced a joint from one of his vest's pockets while shifting away from Marcus a bit.  
"Awwh... how sweet! But I'd rather stay sober until we're out of the danger zone." Marcus stated dryly.  
"Huh?! Well, suit yourself!" Wrench said and lit up, taking a deep drag.  
"You want some too?" he asked you, pulling himself forward on the driver’s seat.  
"Umm... I'm driving?" you said, motioning between you and the steering wheel.  
"We can switch, if you want!"  
"I’d rather not." you rolled your eyes.  
"Ah, fuck I needed this! The adrenaline! That was amazing!" Wrench continued, excitement filling his voice.  
"Yea, I could have gone without the getting-shot-part, but I'm glad you're feeling better." Marcus panted.  
"So... do we go to the hospital or do you have some kind of mob-doctor?" you asked.  
"Just take us to the HQ, we have someone waiting there..."  
Wrench took a deep drag from the joint, mask lifted halfway up from his face. "Yes, this!" he agreed, blowing the smoke out the window.  
  
Once you arrived at the game store, each of you took one side to support Marcus. Same as last time, he let all of you inside with his key.  
You locked up behind yourselves, and quickly put Marcus' arm around your shoulders again. The room was only illuminated by the streetlights from outside.  
"Umm... Wrench? This isn't Y/N's ass you're petting there..." Marcus mumbled when you were halfway through the shop.  
"Huh? Oh I'm sorry.... or am I?" he said and ~.^ appeared on his mask.  
You chuckled.   
Marcus groaned. "Stop it with the shenanigans and get me downstairs. This shit is fucking painful!"  
"Hey don't blame me for trying to lighten the mood." Wrench tried to defend himself.  
"You're still patting..." Marcus stated, ignoring Wrench's excuse.  
With a chuckle Wrench let go of him, as the door to the basement was opened from within.  
Sitara was waiting for you at the other side and helped you get Marcus downstairs, with Wrench trailing after you.  
“You know… I meant for you to distract that guard back there, not shoot him in the head with a rock!” Sitara said.  
You stopped short, making Marcus stumble. “Oh… that makes sense…”  
“It was amazing though!” she laughed.  
“Right?” Wrench agreed from behind you.  
  
Once Marcus was placed on the sofa, an older guy in a Hawaii shirt and dreadlocks took over and started treating his wound. He introduced himself as Ray.  
You had to turn away.   
Seeing him work in Marcus' open flesh... not cool! Sitara didn't seem to mind. She was generously applying disinfectant to Marcus' leg and Vodka to his mouth.  
Wrench stayed as far away from Ray as possible.   
You walked from the others towards Wrench. <3.<3 lit up on his mask at your approach. "Wanna go upstairs for some... horizontal hula?" he asked so the others couldn't hear.  
You looked back towards them with a smirk. Sitara and Ray seemed occupied with Marcus.   
“Sure!” you murmured and took his hand, to pull him up the stairs.  
“Wait!” he ran to his Workspace and took something out of a drawer, hiding it behind his back. After you.” he gestured towards the stairs.

  
Chuckling and shaking your head, you walked up the stairs.  
You had to wait for Wrench to enter the code at the door. Why you needed to enter a code for exiting their secret lair was beyond you, but Wrench took you around the waist and started grinding against you from behind, so you didn’t really mind the delay.

 

The door had only just closed behind you, when he picked you up and carried you towards one of the tables in the front part of the store. The mysterious object was in his back pocket, but you had glimpsed it and remembered the color. Wrench only let go of you to remove his mask, then he attacked your neck and breasts with his mouth.

His hands worked on your pants and you wiggled out of them once he got them open.  
“No…. no panties?” he asked excited, letting his hands glide up the inside of your thighs, spreading them apart.  
“Couldn’t find them…” you murmured, blushing.  
“I should stress you out more often!” he joked, letting his finger glide around your edge. Licking his lips, he finally grabbed the vibrator from his back pocket.  
“I repaired it and tested it for like 10 minutes… and it didn’t burst into flames!”  
“Oh my god, that’s such a sexy thing to say!” you nervously eyed the vibrator, as he came nearer with it.  
“I know, right?” He turned the vibrator on and slowly moved it towards you. The likeness to his real dick was uncanny. Well… the look of it was similar. The feeling… that was something else.  
Once he touched you with it, it felt like time stopped and sped up at the same time.

 

“How did you do that?” you panted, once you had finished, only a few minutes later.  
“I got magic fingers…” he said, making spirit fingers at you. “Or well… a magic dick.” he added after giving it a moment’s thought.  
“That was fucking amazing! Can you make me another one…. in pocket size, so I can take it with me wherever I go?” you asked, still breathless.  
“But…. it’s already almost pocket sized!” he faked hurt.  
“It’s perfectly sized!” you said and pulled him close for a kiss, which lead to round number two. And this time, Wrench got to actively participate as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry, I really wanted this to end smutty.... but the smut just didn't want to cum (pun intended! lol)


	8. Bonfire! yay

You woke up to the sound of Boy purring close to your face. He was wedging himself in between your arms, and getting comfortable.  
Behind you, Wrench was softly breathing in and out. You moved to better accommodate the cat, which in turn woke Wrench.  
He pulled you closer and you wriggled your ass against his crotch. He nuzzled his face against your neck and hair and breathed in deeply.  
Content and comfortable you closed your eyes again.  
The door was slightly ajar and you heard Sitara’s footsteps outside.  
You had almost fallen back asleep, when the sound of the can opener made Boy escape out of your embrace again. With an annoyed sigh, you readjusted yourself to better snuggle up to Wrench. The sound of the coffee-machine made him wriggle his arm free from beneath you though.  
“Seriously?” you mumbled, turning around in the now much too big and rapidly cooling bed.

 “Stop stealing all my men!” you nagged Sitara upon entering the kitchen a few minutes later. She was sitting at the breakfast table with Wrench, both sipping coffee. Kali and Boy were happily munching cat food from their bowl on the floor.  
“Sorry…” she mock apologized with a shrug. “Can’t help it”  
She was still in her oversized sleeping shirt. Wrench wore boxers and his mask, which looked kinda ridiculous, but who were you to judge? You wore pink, washed out cotton panties with cats printed all over them and a ratty tank-top.  
The morning air that was blowing in through the open window held the promise of another way too hot August Day.

 “When did you get that new tattoo?” Sitara asked Wrench, pointing to the small letters just over his right knee.  
“Oh I did it the other day… I sometimes do that when I feel like… well, like I felt last week… “  
Putting your hand on top of his on the table, you softly stroked him with your thumb in silent reassurance you were there for him. “What does it mean?” you asked. You had noticed the letters but had figured it had simply slipped your notice before. Noone could blame you with how many tattoos he had.   
“Are you kidding me? MUZJIKS is that word you spelled when we were playing scrabble on that first evening. That was the moment I decided I’d be sticking my dick into you eventually. How could you forget about that?”  
“Sorry… I haven’t had my coffee yet…” you apologized.  
“So you got it because of Y/N?” Sitara tossed in. “That’s so cute!”  
“Yea yea, but might have been a mistake, since she doesn’t even see the significance of it.” v.v showed on his mask, as he looked at you reproachfully.  
“Bummer!” Sitara agreed.  
“Don’t you gang up on me now!” you pouted. “Boy! Are you simply gonna let this slide? Some support would be nice!”  
Boy looked up and meowed upon hearing his name but quickly stuck his face into his bowl again.

Wrench had invited everyone to the bonfire from your failed wardrobe parts for this evening but you had to go to the office first. On a Friday of all days! The horror! There was a meeting scheduled just before lunch and no one had been able to tell you how long it would take.

You got dressed in black skinny jeans and a white flowy blouse. Your hair was in a high pony tail. Looking at the black pumps in the corner filled your gaze with hate. “Fuck it.” you mumbled, slipping into your converse. Casual Friday it was!  
Wrench and Sitara were still sitting at breakfast in their sleeping clothes when you said your goodbyes before leaving.  
“Have fun, honey!” the two of them shouted after you in unison.  
“Yea yea, fuck you too...”  
  
***  
The awful meeting was made even worse by the sheer duration of it. Your idiotic, opportunistic, chronically underfucked coworker had asserted you couldn’t turn on the AC, because her toes were cold. She also insisted on sitting in the very back while you were giving your presentation, but scolded you all the way through, because she couldn’t read what you were showing on the projector. As if her choice of seating was your fault, but whatever.  
By the time you were done, you were ready to strangle her.   
When the meeting was finally over, hours later, with everyone giving their presentations and the follow up discussion about how to do shit for the next project, it was almost 7pm. Your tummy was rumbling because you hadn’t had time to get any food. You were tired and grumpy and ready to get drunk.  
“Stupid friggin cunt!” you swore to yourself, when you finally got into your car.  
The others had made a live ticker for you in your group chat and you had about 50 messages from them, since you hadn't been able to keep up reading them. They were already at the beach and enjoying their lives while you felt like most of yours had just been sucked out by the bitch at the office.   
You decided to go straight to the beach, to get royally fucked up, instead of getting home to change first. Priorities!  
  
***  
You heard your friends laugh long before you saw them. Wrench was standing with his back towards you, telling an anecdote. Marcus had brought his dog, a corgi puppy, he had gotten a few days ago. He had named it Marcus jr., in honor of Wrench jr. and he claimed the dog was a girl-magnet. Wrench stayed as far away from the dog as possible. You’d have to ask him about his aversion against animals at one point.  
Josh and a few other people you hadn’t met before were there as well, sitting on driftwood or blankets.  
Wrench still hadn’t noticed you when you put your arms around him from behind to steal the beer he was holding.  
“The fuck, dude?” he swore, before turning towards you. \\./ changed to <3.<3 on his mask and he hugged you tight. “Finally!” All the anger had vanished from his voice and was replaced by sheer delight. He pressed his masked forehead against yours for a second. “I was starting to worry,” he said, “I was almost sure they kidnapped and tortured you.”  
“Sure felt like it…” Groaning, you took a long swig from the beer. “Why is this warm?” you handed the can back to him.  
“He’s been talking for hours!” Marcus teased.  
“Fuck you.” Wrench retorted and turned away to take a swig himself. “But this really is too warm…”  
“Sit with me!” Sitara said from her blanket on the ground and held a bottle of wine out for you.  
“My savior!” you said and let yourself plopp down next to her. You took a swig from the bottle before lying down to rest your head on her thigh. “Today was so awful.” you mumbled against her knee.  
“I’m sorry.” she said and started gently massaging your scalp.  
You closed your eyes and sighed deeply.  
“Wow… I don't know if I’m more jealous or turned on.” Wrench stated, opening another beer.  
“Dumbass.” Sitara said, tossing a handful of sand in his direction.  
“Thank you,” you whispered.  
“Don’t mention it.” Sitara replied and kissed your head.  
“Not making it any better!” Wrench moved closer to the two of you.  
“Why don’t you leave the girls alone and do your job?” Marcus interjected, motioning at the heap of wood in your midst.  
“Right!” Wrench said, changing course towards the wood. “I gathered you all here today, because… well… to celebrate trying new stuff, even at the risk of failing. And also, because I enjoy lighting shit on fire! You might wanna move away a bit… this is gonna be hawt!”  
With a groan, you got up and moved the blanket you were on. “Far enough?” Sitara asked.  
“Meh… better double the distance.” Wrench said.  
You looked at him questioningly. The pile didn’t look big enough to call for that big a distance.  
“Believe me… if Wrench says to double the distance, you want to at least triple it…” Sitara said and pulled the blanket away a bit farther.

All the others did the same. There seemed to be a history there.  
Wrench proceeded to pour gasoline all over the bonfire and continued to pour while walking a few meters away to form a gasoline drenched line in the sand.   
Once he was happy with his setup, he took a box of matches from his pocket and lit one, setting the gasoline on the ground on fire. It burned for a while and the flame moved towards the wood... until it stopped like a meter away from the bonfire.

"What the fuck?" he murmured and walked to where the flame had lapsed. "Argh... fuck it!" without much ado, he lit another match and carelessly flicked it onto the gasoline drenched wood, then hastily retreated a few more meters. Everyone seemed to hold their collective breaths. The match landed and the whole pile went ablaze in a second. "Wait for it..." he murmured, as he made his way backwards to where you sat. He was directly between you and the bonfire, when a huge jet of flame suddenly blazed skywards. Yipping with joy, he let himself drop on the blanket next to you in one smooth movement. You, and probably everyone else but Wrench, were blinded by the light.  
The flash was gone in a second, but the wood was ablaze.  
"Not as elegant as I would have liked, but still... wasn't that beautiful?" he said and seized the moment while everyone's eyes were still readjusting to the darkness. He lifted his mask and kissed you on the lips, passionately, only to let go of you a second later and hide his face again.  
"I'm kinda happy you forgot to tell people not to look directly at it..." you whispered, rubbing your eyes.  
"Forgot? I totally did that on purpose," he chuckled evilly.

"Something smells funny..." Sitara suddenly said from your other side.  
"That’s not funny! It’s the smell of success!" Wrench was still all hyped.  
"Nope, it’s the smell of your sweater burning... turn around!"  
"Huh?" Wrench pulled at his sweater to look at its backside. "God damnit..." he murmured, as he hastily pulled it off, "that’s why I usually wear leather... not as flammable!" he explained, throwing the garment on the ground. Sitara unceremoniously poured some wine over it, effectively extinguishing the glow.  
Wrench picked the now wet sweater up and stuck his finger through the hole in the backside. "Argh... fuck it!" he said again and threw it into the fire.  
"You didn't exaggerate, when you said you loved burning stuff, huh? What did you even put in there to blind us all semi-permanently?" you asked.  
"I put like... I dunno... a hundred packets of matches in the middle. Took quite some time to make everything hold up, but wasn't it worth it?"  
"Yea... absolutely...," you groaned, “big fan!”  
“Ha! I knew you’d like it!” he said.  
“I think, she’s being sarcastic, man!” Marcus half was trotting towards you, Marcus jr. close behind him on his tiny puppy legs.  
You kissed Wrench on the small part of his face that wasn’t covered by his mask, “No no no… as long as he is happy, I’m happy too.”


	9. A night to remember

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a night starts amazing, but ends badly... with a broken mask and possibly a broken heart or two

“This is gonna be so much fun! I haven't been dancing in ages!" you exclaimed.  
Sitara had won a pair of tickets for a Camo&Krooked concert. Of course, you were her plus one.  
Wrench had been a bit jealous when you told him he couldn't come with but had decided he'd have a movie night with Marcus and Josh instead, so the boys would be entertained as well.  
You were freshening up your make up one last time before leaving.  
"Hurry up, the uber is waiting outside!" Sitara whined. "You aren’t allowed to look too good anyways... you already got a boyfriend!"  
"So you want to be the pretty one for once? You should have told me that earlier!" you teased and blew her a kiss.

 

There were a couple of people waiting at the entrance of the venue, but not too many yet. You were still early and the main act wouldn’t start for two hours at least. Being early would give you more girls’ time though, which was fine with both of you.  
In between Wrench and your work and Sitara’s work with dedsec and her other various projects, you hadn’t been able to spend too much time together, despite sharing a flat.  
The dancefloor was almost completely empty. Only a few people were slowly moving to the music. You got drinks and sat down on a few stairs in the very back. The music was nice and you were far enough away from the speakers so you could still talk without screaming at each other.  
  
It wasn’t long, before you were joined by two guys about your age. Both tall with dark hair and dark eyes and heavily tattooed from what you could see. Quite nice to look at, actually. One of them, Steve, asked Sitara to dance immediately, which left you with the other, Paul. He was nice and all, but he wasn’t Wrench.  
Etiquette dictated you had to keep each other occupied, while your friends were busy with each other, though, so when you finished your drink, he offered to buy you a new one. Slowly more and more people were entering and the dancefloor filled. Sitara and Steve were nowhere to be seen. Inwardly shrugging, you followed Paul to the bar. “Let’s take a pic!” he said, handing you your drink.  
You weren’t one for selfies, but if it made him happy… whatever. He took out his phone and pulled you close to him. You gave him a kiss on the cheek, as thanks for the drink he had paid and he snapped the pic. “Gonna put that on Instagram!” he murmured, staring at his phone.  
“Hashtag: pickingupgirls” you joked.  
“Hashtag: takingherhome” he replied, chuckling.  
“Hashtag: Probably not, I got a boyfriend… “  
“Hashtag: Bummer! But can we still dance?”  
“Yea, sure! Sitara and Steve are probably ‘dancing’ somewhere as well…” you said, doing air quotes.  
He chuckled, but before he could answer, the crowd erupted in cheers and the noise drowned out everything else. The main act was about to start and Camo and Krooked had just come on stage. You really hoped Sitara didn’t spend the whole evening fucking that guy somewhere. Or if she did, you really hoped he was worth it at least.  
You ended up dancing with Paul all night. The concert was amazing and was made even better by the tall, broad shouldered guy next you, keeping other people at bay. They actually seemed to take care not to shove and push you around for a change. The music was amazing and so loud you could feel the base. All in all, simply perfect!  
Once the main act was over and the crowd thinned a bit, you went back to where you had been sitting before, hoping to maybe find Sitara and Steve there. Instead, you found a couple of drunken kids, one of them puking.  
You rolled your eyes and followed Paul out to the lobby. The band that was playing now was pretty bad and people were crowding towards the exits. You went through the various bars with Paul and checked the toilets in search for your respective other halves but couldn’t find them anywhere.  
"Well, this was fun... thank you for spending the evening with me..." you said as you finally gave up and left the building with Paul.  
"Yea, it was! You were way more fun than the other people Steve usually gets me stuck with." he laughed. "Do you want me to take you home?"  
"Nah thanks, I'll get an uber." you hugged him goodbye and turned to be on your way.... when Wrench suddenly appeared in front of you.  
"Hey, what are you doing here?" you said cheerfully.  
"Surprise!" he shouted, but unlike you, he didn't seem happy at all. "Who's that asshole?" \\./ showed on his mask.  
Paul had been walking in the other direction but Wrench's shout made him stop and turn back.  
"Umm... that’s Paul, what do you want with him?" you asked, confused.  
Paul was about the same height as Wrench, but much wider through the shoulders and way bulkier. "I saw that picture of you kissing him on Instagram!" Wrench accused.  
"What... will you keep it down?" people began gathering around you because of Wrench's tantrum.  
"Are you okay with him?" Paul asked, concern tinting his voice. "He seems a bit… out of it." He stepped in between you and Wrench who must seem like a lunatic to him.  
"Yea, thanks... I can usually handle him." you said, moving around Paul, to get to Wrench.  
"Come on, I'll take you home." Paul said and held you back.  
"I'd like to see you fucking try!" Wrench grabbed Paul’s arm to hold him back from touching you.  
In one smooth movement and without any warning at all, Paul turned around and punched Wrench straight in the face, mask and all. “Don’t you dare touch me!”  
"What the fuck?!" you looked from one guy to the other, not sure who you were shouting at.  
Wrench's mask was broken, the display halfway dangling out of it, giving you a good view of his angry right eye. Paul's fist was bleeding. Wrench seemed unhurt, physically.  
"That was uncalled for!” you scolded Paul, but then you saw the blood running down his fingers, “I got some tissues in my bag somewhere... gimme a second. Wrench, drop it!" you commanded when you saw he was getting closer again.  
Once you found the tissues, you handed them to Paul and tried getting the bleeding to stop. "Are you okay?" you asked when he grimaced.  
He nodded.  
"Now you're siding with him, after flirting with him all evening?" Wrench screamed, "how dare you?"  
"He bought me drinks, of course I was fucking flirting! We can't all be weird loners hiding our faces behind masks, you know?" you shouted back, immediately regretting your words, when you saw the hurt in his eye.  
Wrench didn't say anything, but fumbled for the strap that held the mask in place. Seeing you half real, half through camera must be irritating. With quick movements, he took the whole mask off and threw it to the ground in front of him, shattering it even more.  
"This... is what you just did to my heart!" he shouted and proceeded to stomp on the mask a few times. Then he turned around and left without another word.  
You were left standing in the middle of a small crowd, everyone looking at you. Paul slowly backed away. He obviously didn't want to be pulled any farther into the drama he had helped create.  
What just happened?  
Slowly you sank down on your knees and cradled the parts of Wrench's mask up from the ground. Tears were starting to blur your vision.  
What had you just done?  
Slowly the people around you scattered. Noone was interested in a crying girl alone in the street.  
This wasn’t real at all, was it?  
Your heart ached and you weren't sure if you could ever get up from the ground again. It felt as if this girl on the ground wasn't really you, but someone else entirely. Time seemed to have stopped until suddenly someone touched your shoulder.  
"Y/N? What's wrong?" Sitara crouched down in front of you. Alarm filled her face when she saw the parts to Wrench's mask in your hands. "What happened?" she asked.  
"I.... I don't know" you said. You wanted to tell her, but couldn't find the words.  
"Come on, I'll take you home." she whispered and pulled you to your feet. Steve was nowhere to be seen and you didn’t care to ask where he was. You didn’t care about anything at all.

How had everything gone south so far?

Once you were home, you went straight to bed. You didn’t even bother undressing before you crawled under the covers.  
[IM SO SORRY! I didnt mean it! Please lets talk] you texted Wrench.

Sitara was talking to someone on the phone in the living room.  
“I don’t know what happened… I found her with Wrench’s broken mask in her hands.”  
“She wouldn’t make out with another guy, come on! You have to know that!”  
“Well, Wrench is an idiot then!”  
You didn’t want to hear any more and buried your head under the pillow.

 

You woke up way too early the next morning but couldn’t go back to sleep again. Turning around and finding the bed empty brought last night’s events back to you. You half sighed, half sobbed but managed to hold back the tears that threatened to form in your eyes again.  
Sitting up in bed, pulling your knees to yourself, you buried your face in your hands for a second. A glance at your phone a minute later showed you no notifications. Of course Wrench was too petty to reply.  
“How am I ever going to fix this?” you whispered to yourself, hugging your knees. A scratch on the door made you look up. It was probably Boy who wanted to come inside for his morning cuddles. Laboriously you freed yourself from the covers and let him in. He took one good look at you and then signaled he wanted to be picked up, stretching to his full length with his front paws gently holding on to your hip.  
You picked him up and he immediately started purring and rubbing his face all over yours. Burying your face in his fur, you allowed yourself a moment of weakness, before you’d have to be strong again.

The pieces of Wrench’s mask were on the kitchen table. Sitara had taken them from you in the cab last night. You knew you wouldn’t be able to fix the electronics inside, but you wanted to at least try if you could fix the rest.  
Sorting through the pieces, you quickly had to admit to yourself though, that it probably wasn’t fixable. The leather part that usually covered the bottom half of his face was whole, but the rest was nothing but broken and bent parts. No amount of glue would be able to fix this. You hoped the mask wasn’t a metaphor for your relationship.  
Waiting for the coffee machine, you texted Wrench again. [Good morning! Im up, please lets talk today?]

Half an hour later, Sitara joined you in the kitchen.  
“How do you feel?” she asked, voice soft.  
“I honestly don’t know.” you sighed.  
“What happened?”  
You told her all about the evening with Paul and how you went outside after not being able to find her and Steve and how Wrench had suddenly been there. When you told her what you had said to him, she paled. “Please tell me you didn’t say those words to him!”  
“I wish I could…“ you said, burying your face in your hands again.  
“This is bad.” she murmured. “Marcus said, they were watching their movie, when Wrench suddenly got so agitated at something he saw on his phone. He blabbered something about you being with another guy and how he had to go get you and then he left in a hurry.”  
“I kissed Paul on the fucking cheek for buying me a drink! Here, I’ll show you!”  
You pulled out your phone and searched for the picture on Instagram but couldn’t find it. Paul hadn’t tagged you on it. So how had Wrench found it?  
“He’s THE Wrench… he can find anything and everything on the internet.” Sitara tried to bring light into the situation. “You’re his girlfriend… you must be aware he stalks the internet for stuff about you all the time!”

You blinked at her, confused, trying to come to terms with what she had just said. “He’s stalking me?”  
“He’s a hacker! That’s what he spends most of his days on! I mean… not stalking you per se, but stalking people… finding out stuff they don’t want anyone to know… And he’s the best at it. He probably tracks the internet for pictures with your face on it and….”  
You stopped listening to the technical details of it, as you slowly began to understand. Sadness was replaced by madness while Sitara still explained. “That fucking asshole!”

You didn’t feel like talking to Wrench after that. Who did he think he was? Invading your privacy like that…  
He still hadn’t replied to your texts and whenever you felt like you should text him again, you simply reminded yourself that he had been cyber-stalking you probably since the first day you met. Not okay!

On the third day though, you couldn’t be mad at him anymore. Even though stalking you still wasn’t okay, you started to really miss him.

Sitara's POV  
The way Y/N had been handling the fight so far had been worrisome to say the least. Y/N seemed too cold, emotionally. Not once since the concert had she seen Y/N laugh. After the initial crying, there hadn’t been any more of that either. That wasn’t good. Y/N was usually a bundle of emotion, held together by good intentions and duct tape. Seeing her emotionless like that was torturous.

Sitara knew she had to do something to bring the two of them back together.   
Wrench had showed up at the hackerspace to pick up some stuff the day after the concert. He had been wearing a black hockey mask and Sitara had almost fallen out of her chair, when she had seen him come down the stairs. He hadn’t said anything to her and only given court replies to Marcus for the few minutes he had been there. Since that, no one had seen him. He was probably feeling as shitty as Y/N but both of them were too stubborn to admit.  
When Marcus had told her this morning that Wrench had asked about Y/N, she knew there was still hope. The two idiots just needed some nudges in the right direction.  
Later in the afternoon, Sitara found Y/N napping on their sofa, face buried in one of Wrench’s shirts. Alright. They had to fix them. She texted Marcus and they started to make a plan.

 _Y/N again:_  
The little arrow on your phone was almost at the dot, marking your goal. You were in the middle of nowhere. Sitara had called you, telling you her car had broken down somewhere out here and you were on your way to pick her up.  
It was late afternoon and much too hot for your liking when you stopped and got out of the cool interior of your air conditioned car. Your phone was left safely in its mount on the dashboard.  
Sitara was sitting at the side of the road, her face buried in her hands.  
“Hey! Are you alright?” you said, upon reaching her.  
“Thank you for coming out here! I’m so sorry, but I didn’t know who else to call!” she said.  
“Where’s your car?” you asked.  
She got up and pointed down the slope behind her. “Somewhere down there.”  
“What the… Are you sure you’re okay?” worry tinted your voice.  
“Yes, yes… I’m alright now!”  
“Good! I’m glad!” you hugged her tight. “Come on, I’ll get you home!”  
“Can you just… I lost my bracelet somewhere down there… the one my grandma gave me. And I can’t find it! Can you take a look?”  
Reluctantly you nodded and stepped over the guard rail, eyes scanning the ground.  
“Sitara?” you yelled. “What are you doing?” The sound of a car door being slammed shut had made you look up. Sitara was sitting in the drivers seat of your car, window rolled down.  
“I’m sorry!” she shouted. “It’s for your best! Follow the road!” She rolled up the window and drove off. What the actual fuck?  
You walked back towards the road and looked after her. “Are you fucking serious?”

The road she had directed you to follow led towards a sharp bend. You walked there and stopped dead when you saw a cursing, angry Wrench standing with his back to you, screaming and shouting at another quickly retreating car.  
You shook your head. This couldn’t be true. Of all people to get stuck out here with, he was the one you wanted to see least. You were about to walk back around the bend, when he turned around and saw you. His face was hidden behind a new mask, as if nothing had ever happened to his old one. \\./ appeared on the display, as he started half running towards you.  
“They fucking left us out here! Can you believe that!” he said without greeting. Part of you wanted to reach out and hug him, touch him, breathe in his smell. Part of you wanted to strangle him with barbed wire.  
You didn’t know what to say to him so you opted for silence.  
“It’s gonna take us hours to get back home!” he continued. “Why the fuck are you wearing sandals?”  
You looked down to your feet. “I’m not sure if this is any of your business, but I was supposed to pick up Sitara and go back home, not take a hike through the fucking desert!” you snapped. “And I bet old converse that would be better suited for the dump than to being on someone’s feet are so much better for walking.”  
He wore his usual black jeans and a dedsec hoodie, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. How he didn’t burn up out here was beyond you, but whatever. Mister stalker guy probably knew better what to wear in the desert than anyone else. He obviously was an expert on how to dress for being left in the middle of nowhere.  
You had on ripped off jeans shorts and a purple silky top that was so soft on your skin, it felt like it caressed you with every little breeze of wind. You had chosen to wear it it, because no one else was caressing you these days.

The tension between the two of you was so thick, you could practically cut it.  
“So… I’ll go in that direction, in case you care to join me.” Wrench announced, pointing in the direction he had come from. “But you don’t have to, you know with me being such a weird loner and all… you probably don’t even want to.” his voice took on a mocking tone and hearing your words repeated back to you felt like a stab in the chest.  
You couldn’t stand looking at him, so you looked at the ground instead. “I’m sorry.” you whispered.  
“What was that?” he got closer as if he hadn’t heard you.  
“I’m sorry, okay?” you said, louder this time. “I didn’t mean that and you know it!”  
“Oh do I know? Because I’m not sure I do!”  
“Stop being such an ass and accept my apology, okay? Because you won’t get another one!” Had he always been so annoying?  
He shook his head and turned to walk in the direction he had indicated. You looked after him and decided you’d probably be better off walking with him than staying in the desert all alone. It would be dark in an hour and being out on a lonely road, all alone, without your phone was probably not a good idea.  
You half ran until you reached him and fell in step next to him.   
Neither of you said anything for a while.  
“Why are you even mad at me?” he suddenly asked.  
You stopped. “Are you asking me that for real?” you planted yourself before him, hands on your hips.  
“Yea! Because as far as I can remember, I never gave you any reason to be mad!”  
“Umm… how about stalking me online ever since we met? And then showing up and ruining a perfectly nice evening, because of your paranoia? Does that seem like a reason?”  
“I… I thought you knew about the stalking. It’s what I do, after all.” he had the audacity to seem confused.  
“It’s what you do?” you repeated, “How about you don’t do it to me? What about my privacy? I’m not one of the people you’re dedsec-ing, Wrench! I’m your fucking girlfriend! Don’t I deserve some privacy? Don’t I have a right to it?” Your voice had grown louder with every word until you were outright screaming at him. “Or did I give that right up, when I agreed to date you?”  
“I…. “ he started, then paused. “How else would I know you’re safe though?” his voice was low and he seemed a tad embarrassed. >.< was showing on his mask.  
So he didn’t do it out of jealousy, but out of concern? You couldn’t help, but find that sweet in a weird and twisted way.   
“You don’t need to make sure I’m safe all the time. I’m a grown woman! I can look after myself!” you said, suddenly feeling much calmer.  
The way he stood before you now, shoulders slumping, head held low, made you want to reach out to him and pull him close, but you didn’t. You wouldn’t give him that.  
“Well, sorry for trying to make sure!” he said, voice low. “That still doesn’t justify you kissing that other guy though!” he suddenly got all tense and angry again.  
“I didn’t kiss him, you idiot!” you tried explaining, but he wouldn’t listen. He started marching again, much faster than before. You had to half run to keep up with him.  
“So that picture was fake then?” he said, not bothering to slow down.  
“No! But it was only that one kiss on the cheek!”  
“I saw the security feed.” he murmured. “He was all over you the whole evening! And he tagged that picture with #takingherhome!” Now it was his turn to scream at you.  
“And is it my fault that he liked me? You of all people should be able to relate to that!” you shouted back.  
“Yea, whatever!” he said and turned to the left. He climbed up the slope next to the street.  
“What are you doing?” you shouted after him, struggling to keep up.  
“The view is better from up there! And I hoped you wouldn’t be able to come after me in those ridiculous shoes of yours!” he lashed out.  
Oww. That stung. You stopped and stayed where you were. Wrench had reached the top of the slope and didn’t seem inclined to wait for you.  
You took a few steps, not wanting to be left out there all alone, but slipped in the twilight, about halfway up the slope and felt your ankle twist.  
“Fuck!” you cursed when the pain shot up through your leg and you tripped and tumbled down the rocky hillside, scrapping your knees and hands and ripping your shirt at the side. “Fuck this whole fucking huge pile of shit!” angrily, you hammered on the dirt around you with your fists. The irritation quickly faded though when you realized how quiet it was all around you. Wrench was gone.  
You were hurt and scared and all alone in the darkness. Tears formed in the corners of your eyes and this time you didn’t bother holding them back. There was no one around who cared, so why should you?  
Laboriously you crawled towards a big rock near you and leaned against it.  
When you heard twigs breaking and rocks rolling downwards out of nowhere somewhere to your right, you stopped crying. It was completely dark and your vision was all blurry with tears. And now there was something or someone. You held your breath, not wanting to risk anyone finding you.  
“Y/N? Where are you?” Wrench shouted from your right and you let out the breath you had been holding.  
“I’m here!” you said, waving your arm in his direction.

More rocks rolled and twigs broke and suddenly he was next to you, the LED’s from his mask blindingly bright.  
“Are you okay?” he asked, display showing Y.Y.  
“I twisted my ankle.” you murmured defeated.  
“Shit… let me see.” He gently placed his hands on your knee and let his fingers glide downwards from there. The feeling of his skin on yours made your heart beat faster. Careful, he prodded at your ankle and turned your foot. “I think nothing’s broken, but it feels swollen. And you’re bleeding.”  
He let his hands glide back up your leg, but stopped at the knee.  
“I’m sorry.” he said, hesitating a second before taking his mask off.  
“Me too…” you whispered. His hands moved upwards, till he reached your torso. He let them rest there for a moment as if asking permission and when you didn’t protest, he pulled you close and hugged you tight.  
“Let’s never fight again, okay?” you whispered and held on to him as well. His body against yours felt so so right, it made you almost forget about your throbbing ankle and scrapped hands and knees. You buried your face against his chest and let him hold you. He kissed the top of your head and petted your hair.  
“Are you cold?” he asked, noticing the goosebumps on your back and arms.  
You nodded and one final sob escaped your throat.  
“Come here.” he whispered and drew you into his lap. Then he slipped out of his sweater and handed it to you.  
You thankfully pulled it over your head and greedily breathed in his scent, huddling closer to him as he put his arms around you.  
No more words were needed . Both of you were beyond happy about having found each other again and fatigue mixed with content made you fall asleep quickly.

***

The sound of something buzzing above you woke you up early next morning. A drone was hovering above your heads. You were locked in Wrench’s arms and couldn’t move, so tight was he holding on to you.  
“Wrench!” you whispered and struggled to free yourself from his grasp. “Is that one of yours or do we need to be scared?”  
“Huh?” Wrench said when he noticed your struggles. He opened his eyes sleepily before looking up. Only now, in the light of day, did you see that he had a huge fading bruise around his eye and a couple of cuts, probably from being stabbed by the broken display. Stupid Paul!  
“Good morning!” Marcus’ voice said from the drone. “Glad to see you’ve made up!”  
Wrench sat up and grabbed his mask, hastily putting it on. “Marcus, you know I love you, bro, but I’ll fucking kill you once I get home!” he said, angrily pointing his finger at the drone.  
“We have some water for you, and a few energy bars, if you want them.” Sitara’s voice sounded from the speaker. “But only if you promise you’ll be good!”  
Wrench got up and tried grabbing the drone. It quickly darted out of his reach.  
“Stop playing games!” he said, obviously not in the mood. “Y/N is hurt! Give us the water and pick us the fuck up!”  
The drone descended and moved towards you to better inspect your injuries. You showed your bloody hands towards the camera and Wrench grabbed the drone and pointed it towards your swollen ankle.  
“This isn’t funny!” he said and took the two bottles of water out of the little holders that were attached to the sides. Two energy bars fell from a little compartment that opened up in the bottom and he quickly picked them up as well.  
“Get us and quick or I’ll blow both your fucking cars up! And you know I mean it!”  
You had never seen Wrench so serious. All traces of humor had vanished from his behavior.  
“Kiss first!” Sitara’s voice said.  
“Sitara… consider this your last warning!” Wrench replied.  
“Kiss!” she repeated, unimpressed by his threats.  
You pushed yourself up, careful not to put too much pressure on your foot and kissed Wrench on the neck. “Happy?”  
The drone moved up and down, as if to nod. “Yes!” Sitara and Marcus said in unison.  
“No” Wrench protested. “If we do this, we do it properly!” he removed his mask and carelessly let it fall to the ground, grabbing you around the waist to support you and pressed his mouth to yours with so much need and urgency you wouldn’t have believed could be placed in one single touch. He lifted you up from the ground, as his tongue sought entrance in between your lips and you gladly gave in to it, all the while holding on to him tightly. Both of you were so greedy and eager, you lost your balance and fell to the ground, you on top of Wrench and the kiss would have grown to be much more, if it wasn’t for the drone still hovering above you.  
“Alright alright, please stop!” Sitara begged. The drone turned so the camera faced away from you. “You’ve made up… we believe you! But if one of you idiots ever thinks of getting in a fight again, I just want you to remember, that this plan was the nicest one we came up with.”


	10. Fu**ing and punching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> new revelations in between Y/N and Wrench threaten their relationship once more? No, actually not...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is just some sillyness I wanted to get in, after that last chapter was so dramatic... lots of dumb jokes again... I'm having so much fun writing those and I always get lotsa great ideas for new jokes from my bff, so...

Sitara refused to let you stay at the apartment that night. All of you knew there would be no sleep for her if the two of you were left alone in a room together with lots of making up to do, which was why she drove you to Wrench’s RV after you had seen a doctor about your ankle.  
There was nothing broken but you were advised to take it easy with the walking for the next few days.  
Wrench had refused to leave your side all day long, which was cute, but kinda odd. You weren’t used to him being so clingy.  
“Okay, now tell me what’s wrong!” you said, once you were alone in his RV, late that day.  
“Wrong?” he said, ?.? appearing on his mask.  
“Yea, you’re acting all weird!”  
“I don’t wanna ruin our newfound peace.” he murmured, voice barely audible under his mask.  
“Wrench! Stop being a sissy! Just tell me!” you insisted. You weren’t sure you even wanted to know what he had done, but there was no going back now that you knew there actually WAS something.  
“I…. might or might not have…. fuck this is kinda hard….”  
“Wrench. What did you do?” his behavior was starting to annoy you and you let it show in your voice.  
“I…. fucked someone….”  
“Are you fucking shitting me? When?”  
“Yesterday…” he sighed. “I was still there when Marcus called me to get him from the desert.”  
“Take your mask off and tell me that again!” you said, a million feelings passing through you all at once.  
He removed the mask and before he could even put it down on the table, let alone say anything, you slapped him straight in the face.  
“Oww…. “ he hissed, putting his hand on his abused cheek. He was still lightly bruised from the punch he’d received a few days earlier but you couldn’t care less.  
“Don’t you say oww to me now!” you threatened, pointing your finger at his face. “And this after being such a drama queen about me kissing some dude on the cheek…. you’re such an ass!”  
“I’m sorry!” he said.  
“Yea, you better be! It takes a special kind of stupid to do something like that… Who was she anyways? Please tell me I don’t know her!”  
“Well actually… you know HIM….” he said, still not daring to look you in the eye.  
“Him?” you repeated, not sure if you’d heard right.  
“Yea… remember Paul?”  
You took a step backwards and leaned against the kitchen counter. “Seriously? I didn’t realize you were bi!”  
“Well actually… I’d consider myself pan. I’d probably fuck a toaster if I knew it wouldn't burn my dick off," he said.  
“Wow… good thing I’m not the jealous one around here!” You gripped the edge of the kitchen counter, needing something to hold on to. Processing that new piece of information about him took you a few minutes. Wrench stood opposite you, not daring to say anything for fear of chasing you away.  
“So… umm… was he good? I bet he was so good!” you finally broke the silence, curiosity getting the better of you.  
“Aren’t you mad?” he asked, confused, but finally looking at you again.  
“Well… I’m not exactly happy, but I honestly can’t take any more drama right now… Just tell me if he was good! And how it happened! I’m curious, actually!”  
“Well… I stalked him a bit and found out where he lived and… I waited for him at his place, wanting revenge mostly, but we got to talking, about you actually! And then one thing led to another…” he trailed off.  
“One thing led to another? And then you were fucking each other? Just like that?” you asked and had to fight the urge to laugh out loud before you stopped yourself, with a new thought occurring, “wait… who was on top?”  
“He was…, “ Wrench slowly admitted.  
“Wow…, “ this actually left you speechless.  
When you didn’t say anything for a few minutes, he stepped closer to you again. “Are you sure you aren’t mad?” he asked, pulling your face up so you had to look him in the eyes.  
“I’m more confused than mad… and a bit jealous… He was really good looking!”  
“Yea, but a bit of a dumbass…” Wrench added.  
“Yea, I got that vibe from him as well!” you laughed. “So… does it… hurt?”  
“What?”  
“Are you really gonna make me say it out loud?”  
“Oh… getting fucked in the ass you mean?” he chuckled. “Well… if done right, it can be quite pleasant… We can try if you want!”  
“Hells no! My ass is a one-way road!”  
“Well, then you’ll never know.” he laughed and leaned against the counter next to you.  
You rested your head against his shoulder. “This is so messed up.”  
“I don’t care, I’m just glad you aren’t mad!”  
“I’m too tired to be mad… but promise me, this was a one-time thing, okay? Bad enough I gotta keep my eye on the toaster… I don’t want to have to worry about Paul as well.”  
“Absolutely!” he stepped in front of you and hugged you in a tight embrace, before kissing you. “Actually… check out his Instagram!” he broke the kiss all too quickly and got his phone out.  
Paul’s Instagram consisted mostly of selfies with various girls and guys… there was a pic with Wrench, a few pics down, there was the one with you, every pic tagged with #takingherhome or some version of it and each post also had a number next to it. Yours was 247, Wrench was 253.  
“What the fuck is he counting?” you murmured, scrolling farther down.  
“The number of people he fucked!” Wrench explained. “He told me all about it! It’s what he does, actually.”  
“But we didn’t…” you murmured. “Who knows how accurate that number actually is…”  
“Does it really matter?” Wrench asked. “Just scroll down a little farther….” he took the phone from you and scrolled to what he wanted to show you.  
There was a picture of Paul and Sitara, tagged with the number 124. “Ooooooh!!! So does that make you and Sitara dick cousins or….” you chuckled.  
“Probably!” Wrench snorted.  
You scrolled through Paul’s profile some more but didn’t find anything too interesting, except for how many followers he had. He was in the low 10000s, which was kinda impressing, actually.  
“Can we go to bed?” you asked, slowly getting bored.   
“Sure, but I need a shower first. I still got his… stuff all over me.”  
You groaned. “Thank you for being honest, but I really didn’t need to know that. Go!” you shoved him into the small bathroom and pulled the door closed behind him.  
“And be quick, I wanna clean up too!” you shouted.  
He cracked the door open once more to looked at you, “You can always join me!”  
“I’d rather not have someone’s cum, whom I didn’t even fuck, all over me, thank you very much!” you pushed him back into the bathroom with your hand on his face and closed the door again.

Once you heard the shower running, you limped to the little seating area and sat down.  
[sooooo…. remember paul from the concert?] you texted Sitara.  
[sure! he was hot! what about him?] she replied within seconds.  
[well… turned out wrench fucked him… or he fucked wrench, to be more precise]  
[WHAT?]  
[yea, he just told me…]  
Wrench’s phone lit up at that moment. Sitara was calling him.  
You picked up. “He’s in the shower! Why are you calling him?”  
“To shout at him of course! Are you okay? Want me to pick you up?” she asked, concern tinting her voice.  
“Don’t worry, we’re okay!”  
“You are?”  
“Yea… Paul was fucking hot, I can’t really blame him. Actually... didn’t he seem familiar to you at all?”  
“Hmm… yea, kinda… why do you ask?”  
“I’ll send you a link later, just check your messages!”  
“Okay?” she said slowly. “But you’re sure you and Wrench are okay?”  
“Yea, don’t worry… he promised me it was a one-time thing, so I honestly couldn’t care less. It’s just sex… But just a quick question… did you know he considers himself pansexual?”  
“He mentions it sometimes… and I mean, look at him! He looks like he’d enjoy fucking a toaster… I thought you’d figured that out by now.”  
“What is it with the toaster again?” you murmured more to yourself than to Sitara, “seems I’m kinda blind when it comes to stuff like that,” you said to her.  
“Hey I got most of it off, I think… care to join me in here?” Wrench’s shout from the bathroom interrupted your talk.  
“Oh my god, that’s so disgusting!” Sitara said, obviously having heard him.  
“Yea well… Gotta go!” You hung up on her before she could say anything more and then went to join Wrench in the shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the way y/n reacts to the new information isn't entirely realistic, but fuck it! This isn't about realistic anyways...


	11. Mothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you learn something new about Wrench's past... the good, the bad and the ugly. But mostly the good.

“Sooooo… we’ve been together for a while now, right?” Wrench asked, looking at you from the kitchen table.  
“Umm… what kind of question is that?” you looked at him, suspiciously.  
“The kind of question that I ask right before I ask you to join me to my mother’s birthday party, I guess…” he nervously played with the sleeves of his sweater.  
“You want to introduce me to your mum?” an impish grin appeared on your face as you half turned towards him, your hands held over the sink, so you wouldn’t make a mess on the floor.  
“Yea… is that okay?” he looked at you hopefully, *.* on his display.  
“Sure! I was kinda wondering about your family, you know?” you turned back to the dough you were kneading.  
“Well… whatever you’ve been thinking, I promise you it’s gonna be way crazier.” he murmured and hugged you from behind.

Turned out, his mother didn’t live too far from the city. It was Sunday afternoon and you had only been on the road for about 20 minutes when Wrench turned onto a dirt road that went down into a valley.  
All along the way, he had been quiet and tense.  
You stopped in front of quite a big stone house. It was adjoined by a wall that was so overgrown with wild grapes you couldn’t even tell what color the wall beneath was. Chickens and goats were running around and gently grazing. In between the animals two small naked kids, smeared with dirt from top to bottom were playing and laughing.  
Two large trees to your left threw their shade over it all.  
A middle aged woman with long white hair and a chicken on her shoulder came out to receive you. She gently took the chicken off her shoulder and set it on the ground when she reached you.  
Her white hair made her look much older than she probably was. She moved youthfully and the flowing beige linen dress that she wore was blowing in the wind behind her as she walked.  
Wrench got out of the car, nervously scratching the back of his head, as he walked towards her.  
You hurried to join him and he took your hand, squeezing it, as he closed the distance towards his mother.  
“Oooooh Rebel! My precious boy!” she shouted excited as she hugged him tight.  
He was quite a bit taller than her, and she had to step on tiptoes to be able to do so. “Are you still hiding your beautiful face behind that awful mask of yours?” she tut-tutted and ruffled his longish hair.  
“Hi, mum.” he said, voice soft. He had turned the synthesizer in his mask off. You hadn’t been aware he could do that. “I told you not to call me that in front of my friends.” he sighed.  
“What, Rebel?” she asked, as she finally let go of him, holding him by the shoulders and looking him up and down.  
“Yea…” he murmured, looking towards you helplessly.  
“Oh yes yes, I’m sorry… you go by Wrench now, right?” she said. “Well… it’s as good a name as any… we’re all tools of the universe after all…” she chuckled.  
You had to fight hard not to burst out laughing at the defeated way he stood before the much shorter woman.  
“And you must be Y/N!” his mother exclaimed when she was finally done fussing over him. “I’m Harmony!” She embraced you in the same hearty way, despite never having met you before. You were a bit stiff at first but she seemed so real and sincere, you quickly relaxed and hugged her back.  
“Hi! It’s so nice to meet you.” you said when she finally let go of you.  
“Rebel… err… Wrench has told me so much about you!” she said as she looked you up and down. “But he didn’t tell me about your beautiful aura! I can’t wait to get to know you better! Come to the seating area!” she invited you inside. “Bob, Bear! Come here and meet your brother!” she hollered at the dirt covered kids who were still running around screaming, completely unperturbed by the arrival of two strangers.  
“You have siblings?” you asked.  
“Yea, a couple… Those two are new though.” he murmured, seeming as surprised as you were.  
You shook your head at the cryptic way he phrased this but went along as he pulled you after his mother.  
A small archway, so overgrown with the vines it was practically invisible led you through the rock wall into a beautiful lush garden.  
There were logs and carpets placed in a circle around a fireplace under a fabric gazebo and Wrench’s mum motioned for you to sit down. Wind chimes chimed in the lower tree branches and indian prayer flags hung in a criss cross pattern from the low roof to the trees and the outer wall. The smell of a million flowers played in your nostrils. You felt like you had fallen into a fairy land.  
“I’ll tell your other mothers you are here!” Harmony said and ruffled Wrench’s hair once more before hurrying inside through an old wooden door. “Please take your shoes off, connect with mother gaia.” she added, looking back out after a second. "And your bra as well, if you want dear. We're all free out here!"  
“Your other mothers?” you asked, eyebrows drawn together while stepping out of your sandals. You thought about it for a minute, then shrugged your bra off from under your sundress.  
“I tried to warn you… but I love your attitude!” Wrench smirked, greedily ogling your breasts.  
At that moment, three women with the same vibe as Harmony about them, came out through the wooden door. Two of them wore the same long dresses as Harmony. The third one wore nothing on her top half and a long skirt seemingly made of the same material as the others' dresses.  
“Oh Rebel!” “My dear boy!” “It’s been so long!” each of them cooed over him, accompanied by lots of petting and more hair ruffles, despite him being taller than each of them. He stood in their midst, shoulders hanging low in defeat and patiently endured their ministrations.  
When they were finally done welcoming him, they greeted you in the same hearty manner, introducing themselves as Summer, Sequoia and Raven. Summer and Sequoia looked so similar, you wondered if they were actual twins. You’d have to ask Wrench later. Their long brown hair had the same waves to it and went to almost their waists, which was not too hard, since they were both quite short. One of them, Sequoia you thought, had a grey strand through her hair, but that was about the only difference you could see. Raven was the topless one. She looked a few years younger than the others and her long, black hair had black feathers, probably ravens’, braided in. Way to make the name work.  
“No need to hide your beautiful face from us, love.” one of his mothers, Summer, said and motioned at his mask.  
He looked around self-consciously before moving to unclasp the strap of his mask. Everyone here knew what his face looked like so there really was no need for it. Squinting against the bright sunlight, he put it to the side, nervously trying to arrange his hair so his left eye and the scar were hidden from view.  
“Such a pretty boy.” Summer said, and brushed his hair to the side. You moved closer to him, as you felt more than saw him tense up. The bruise around his eye had almost faded, and the cuts were almost gone but in the sunlight, they both were still visible.  
"Who did this to you, dear?" Summer exclaimed and inspected his face more closely.  
"Some dude... doesn't matter." Wrench tried to distract.  
"He's alright" you tried to assure her. "He was just being a dumbass and got what he deserved... "  
Harmony looked at you as if you had just slapped her precious boy in front of her.  
"Sorry, but... " you started.  
"I was being jealous, unnecessarily so, and the dude I thought she was cheating with hit me in the face, because I called him an asshole." Wrench quickly explained before Harmony could change her mind about you.  
"Jealous? Oh you must have that from your father. Jealousy is such an ugly emotion." she said, still petting his hair. "And didn't we teach you not to call people names?"  
"Yea... I can't always help it." he said and actually managed to look ashamed. Once more you had to fight hard not to laugh out loud. Wrench without cursing people out seemed even more improbable than Wrench without the mask.  
"So we won't talk about how you ended up fucking Paul yourself, yes?" you threw in. You had promised him and yourself not to let him live that whole thing down too quickly and this was the perfect opportunity for some sweet revenge.  
Again Harmony looked at you, but this time, her face lit up and she burst out laughing.  
"Aww... come on! You didn't have to mention that!" he said.  
"No, I didn't really HAVE to, but I kinda wanted to, you know?"  
"I'm sorry! He was hot, you said so yourself!"  
"Yea! Even worse that you got some and I didn't." you pouted.  
“Oh I like your attitude!” Harmony laughed, pointing her finger at you.  
“Bobby, Bear, bring the presents you made for your brother and his lover!” you flinched at Sequoia's shout, as the two dirt covered kids came running in through the archway. Now that, Wrench's sex-life was sufficiently discussed, it was obviously time to focus on other things to talk about.  
“Oh, we actually brought you something as well. I almost forgot.” you said to Harmony and hastily retrieved a small package from your purse.  
“For me? That’s so unexpected!” she exclaimed and eagerly took the small box.  
“She wouldn’t listen to me when I told her you didn’t want any presents.” Wrench murmured.  
“It’s your birthday. I didn’t want to come here empty handed.  
Harmony had unwrapped the present meanwhile and gingerly took the black gardening shears out of their box. “They are beautiful!” she exclaimed, before hugging you once more.  
“They’re handmade by an old blind man.” you said. “He lives in the same town as my parents and his tools are the best. Wrench told me you were a gardener, so…”  
“That is so thoughtful! I will treasure them always.” she said sincerely and snipped the shears a few times to test them.  
You smiled, but before you could say anything, the two little boys came running towards you, each of them carrying a flower crown. Sequoia had helped them wash up and was following them slowly, her dress wet all down the front.  
The two little boys stepped in front of you and Wrench and placed a flower crown on each of your heads. Then they quickly ran off again, both giggling.  
“Look how beautiful the two of you are!” Sequoia said and took an almost antique digital camera from somewhere in her dress. “Let me take a picture of you!”  
Before Wrench could protest, she had snapped a pic and put the camera away again.  
“Can I have a copy of that?” you stage whispered to her.  
Wrench stared at you with a look of betrayal in his eyes.  
“Sorry.” you mumbled with an apologetic grin and snuggled up against him. He absentmindedly snaked his arm around you.  
“It fills my heart with happiness to see you like this.” his mother said and looked at the two of you lovingly. “You are actually the first girl he ever brought here. He did bring one boy when he was 15 I think, but no one ever since! We were starting to worry. His relationship to electrical devices was worrisome to say the least. And when he started hanging out with those computer kids... ” she said, chuckling. "How is your little revolution going anyways?"  
“Mum please…” Wrench said, rolling his eyes.  
“What? I’m only telling her about you!”  
“Well, while we’re on the subject of him… you keep calling him Rebel… is that his actual name?” you interrupted the two of them.  
“Am I allowed to tell?” Harmony asked eagerly.  
Wrench sighed deeply. “This was all a huge mistake…”  
Harmony chuckled before turning to you again. “I don’t know why you’re so embarrassed about your name, Rebel,” she said, emphasis on his name. “Rebel Indigo.” she seemed awfully proud of herself for coming up with it.  
“So your name is actually Rebel? That’s so fitting!” you pursed your lips, holding back laughter.  
“It's not what it says on my birth certificate, but I went by Rebel most of my youth... If you tell Sitara….” he started, but trailed off. “Why do I even bother? You’ll tell her anyways.”  
“Yea, probably.” you grinned. “This is great! I love it!”  
“You have a weird comprehension of greatness…“ he said and turned to his mother, helplessly trying to divert your attention from his name. “Didn’t you have a new harvest for us to try?”  
“Yes, yes! I almost forgot!” Harmony chuckled. “We’ve already started trying earlier.”  
"Yea, I noticed..." he seemed slightly annoyed, but it was clearly visible he adored these women.  
"Oh don't be like that..." Harmony said and got up. "I'll be back in a minute."  
Raven was running around with the kids, Sequoia was silently sketching something in the garden, which left you and Wrench alone. You sneaked in for a little kiss. "It's beautiful here."  
"Seems kinda bland in comparison, when I got you sitting next to me." he whispered and kissed you back.

A minute later, Harmony came back outside, carrying a large wooden pipe. It looked like the ones Native Americans were usually pictured with in history books.  
You were confused for a second, but a grin spread on your face, when the familiar sweetish smell of weed filled your nostrils. So that’s what they were harvesting.  
"This is so surreal" you murmured when Harmony handed you the pipe a few minutes later. Growing up in a conservative household, you had only learned about the very existence of drugs through anti-drug talks in school. And here you were sitting with your boyfriends mothers, smoking out.  
And it was good stuff too.  
"That strain is called Wonder Woman... because it works like the Lasso of Truth, loosening people's tongues" Summer explained. She had joined you as soon as Harmony had lit the pipe.  
You didn’t feel overly talkative but when you caught yourself asking about Wrench's father you had to admit there was something to the name.  
"Oh that… specimen,” Harmony’s face twisted at the thought of him. "I met him when I was doing a lot of cocaine. We fucked and I got pregnant and didn't hear from him for the next 8 months. Only when I told him he had a son, he insisted on naming him after himself... Re..."  
"Mum, don't!" Wrench shushed her. "Don't you dare speak that name."  
Harmony looked at him in silence for a second, before going on. "Anyways... he who mustn't be named decided he didn't give a shit about his son a week later and was nowhere to be found, till Rebel was 16. And then this man had the audacity to suddenly decide he had to raise his son. Can you believe that? I left the choice to Rebel of course, not wanting to hold him back from anything and he left me and his mothers... only to come back two years later, with that scar on his face, and burned off eyebrows, covered in tattoos, wearing his hair in a Mohawk." she laughed, but it wasn’t a happy laugh.  
"What happened?" you asked, looking at him.  
He rubbed his face self-consciously, "Can we not talk about this now?"  
"Sorry... I was just wondering...”  
"Soon after, he was starting wearing this hideous mask, hiding his lovely face. A shame, really." Harmony continued, as if you hadn't spoken. "It was a dark time for all of us. I saw that he wasn't feeling good, but you know how children are at that age..." she sighed.  
"Okay, that’s enough of my tragic past." Wrench interrupted, "way to ruin the mood..."  
"I'm sorry love, you are right of course!" she handed the pipe to him after inhaling one last time. "I almost forgot! I made you your favorite cake!"  
"Much better!" he said, immediately lightening up again.  
The rest of the afternoon was spent talking and laughing and eating cake with the pipe occasionally making the rounds again. When you were ready to leave, Harmony insisted on packing you a whole bunch of weed and half of the chocolate cake.  
"It was so delightful having the two of you!" she said as you walked towards the car.  
"Thank you so much for having us!" you said and hugged her.  
"You should come here more often! Our doors are always open... literally." she said to you in a low voice.  
"We will! It was lovely!" you said and stepped back so she and Wrench could say their goodbyes.  
"Don’t let her run off. She's a keeper!" Harmony said to him when they hugged.  
"Yea, I know." he replied and winked at you over her shoulder.  
"Oh good! You haven't left yet!" Sequoia hurried out of the house with a longish white roll in her hand. She had vanished sometime during the afternoon. "I made this for you!" she said and unrolled what turned out to be a page from her sketchbook.  
"I love it!" you exclaimed, while Wrench looked at it as if it was crawling with spiders. On the paper was a beautiful watercolor drawing showing you and Wrench wearing your flower crowns, with butterflies and baby bunnies surrounding you.  
And you would use it to taunt him for the rest of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again my lovely friend was helping me come up with most of the ideas for this chapter. This would have been so much sadder if it wasn't for your ideas!  
> Thank you! <3


	12. must touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wrench does what Wrench does... fuck shit up... and get ice cream... and touch pretty things... oh, and some cocaine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright, this chapter has a bit more action than the last ones. some blood and killing, like in the game. (That one mission in the game where you played Wrench... wasn't that the most amazing mission in the whole game? I had so much fun!)

The sixpacks of beer in your hands and the food in your backpack were weighing you down, as you struggled through the sliding door at dedsec’s HQ.  
“No need to help me, you guys… I’m all good!” you shouted breathlessly.  
You could hear Wrench and Josh talking downstairs but no one was coming to your aid.  
With an angry snort, you violently placed the beer at the desk next to the guys. Both of them startled and looked at you in confusion.  
“Huh?! Where did you come from?” Wrench said, pulling you into a half hug and placing his forehead against yours in greeting.  
You pushed him away and set your backpack down on the ground.  
Josh had invited everyone for a Futurama Marathon. It was Friday evening and you hadn’t planned anything but watching the show all weekend long.  
You had come straight from work and brought snacks for everyone.  
“Where’s Sitara and Marcus? I thought I’d be the last one to come.” you asked, looking around.  
“Yea, we sent them out to get some snacks.” Wrench said absentmindedly. His attention was back on the screens. Josh was sitting in his chair with Wrench leaning on the backrest.  
“Umm…” you said and pointed to the sixpacks and your backpack.  
“Yea, but… we wanted ice cream.” he said defensively and took one of the beers.  
You rolled your eyes and put the cans into the little fridge next to the big TV.  
“Could have told me…” you murmured but quickly decided it didn’t matter. “What are you looking at anyways?” you added a minute later, as you joined them at Josh’s desk.  
“There’s these guys that have been bothering us for a while now… We’re gonna fuck their shit up” Wrench chuckled.  
“They’ll get the shipment tonight.” Josh stated matter of factly.  
“Shipment? What kind of shipment?” you asked, trying to make sense of the lines of text on the screens. The lines on the main-screen changed every so often, while the other displays stayed the same. The columns of text seemed to be dates and times and probably coordinates, but you weren’t entirely sure.  
Josh typed on his keyboard and the screen changed to another set of lines.  
You decided you didn’t care and sat down on the big black leather sofa, turning on the TV to pass time until Sitara and Marcus were back. Hopefully they’d be more entertaining than Wrench and Josh.  
After thoughtlessly zapping through the channels for half a minute, you stopped. High School Musical was playing and you were quickly absorbed by the familiar story, lowly singing along to the catchy songs.  
Josh didn’t seem to mind at all, but Wrench skeptically glanced at you sideways, every now and then.  
When Sitara and Marcus finally came down the stairs, you got up to help them with the groceries. Sitara, upon hearing the TV joined you in singing along to Breaking Free. Together you finished the duet, serenading each other.   
Once the song was over, Marcus quickly turned off the TV. “Please, no more singing.” he murmured, looking at the two of you apologetically.  
“Come on! It wasn’t that bad! We won a Karaoke contest with that song, back in school!” You giggled.  
“Oh my god! I almost forgot about that!” Sitara said excitedly. “We should do Karaoke next weekend!”  
When none of the guys reacted in any way, she looked at you and shook her head apologetically before walking over to Josh’s desk. “Alright, it’s Friday night! Work’s over.” she announced and turned off one screen after another. They protested but didn’t dare turning them back on. They knew better than to contradict her.

Sitara placed a bag of popcorn in the microwave and grabbed a bowl from the small kitchenette. “Sit.” she ordered, pointing to the seating area. They had recently added two comfy lounge chairs, since it tended to get a little too cozy on the sofa now that you often joined them for their movie nights.

Josh occupied one of the chairs while you made yourself comfortable on the sofa, patting the space next to you to invite Wrench. Marcus sat on the other chair and when the popcorn was done, Sitara joined you on the sofa.  
Without further ado, Josh took the remote and started the first episode. The familiar theme song played and Wrench put his arm around your shoulders, pulling you closer. You laughed, when you saw he had done the same to Sitara on his other side.

10 Episodes later, all of your attention spans had maxed out. You were getting tired and your legs were starting to fall asleep. Wrench’s head was resting in your lap, while his legs were on top of Sitara’s.  
“You sure you don’t wanna rub my feet a bit?” he asked Sitara for the third time. She pushed his legs off of hers with an amused snort. “Kiss my shiny metal ass” she quoted, getting up.  
“Come here, man… I’ll rub your feet all you like!” Marcus quickly took Sitara’s spot and pulled Wrench’s feet up into his lap.  
“That’s the life.” Wrench sighed contently, stretching to his full length, looking up at you.  
“I gotta pee.” you murmured and unceremoniously freed yourself from under him.  
You stretched your arms behind your back, as you walked to the bathroom. The good thing about watching something each of you had seen a million times was that you didn’t have to pay attention to the TV all the time.  
“All the girls are leaving me… but you’ll stay with me forever.” you heard Wrench say to Marcus.  
“Yea… sure…” Marcus chuckled nervously.  
When you were done in the bathroom, Sitara was chilling in the chair, while Wrench and Marcus were spread on the sofa. “Anyone want anything?” you asked as you were bending down to open the fridge.  
“Beer!” “Beer!” Red Bull!” the guys ordered.  
You tossed each of them their drinks before settling next to Sitara. Wrench and Marcus were taking up the whole Sofa on their own.  
“Haha! Bender is the best!” Wrench chuckled absentmindedly. He didn’t even seem to notice you weren’t siting with him anymore.

“You should probably get going soon.” Josh said, a little while later.  
“Huh? Is it that late already?” Wrench pulled out his phone to check the time.  
“Going where?” you asked, momentarily distracted from the TV.  
“To fuck shit up!” Wrench laughed, “And I’m probably gonna get more ice cream.”  
You looked between him and Josh questioningly.  
Neither of them replied, but instead Wrench got up and got one of the bigger weapons from the weapons closet. “What do you need the grenade launcher for?” Marcus asked, getting up as well.  
“Just as a precaution.” Wrench shrugged.  
“Stop speaking in riddles!” you said, still lounging in the chair with Sitara, but leaning towards the two guys.  
“The Tezcas are gonna receive a shipment of cocaine laterz.” Wrench finally explained. “I’ll steal a bunch of it and destroy the rest.” he put on his vest and strapped the grenade launcher to his back.  
You took a deep breath. You knew that Wrench did this kind of stuff a lot in his line of work, but that didn’t mean you liked it.  
In one smooth movement, you got up from the chair and walked towards him.  
“Be careful, yes?” you said and gently placed your hand on his chest.  
“I probably won’t be… but I appreciate the sentiment.” he chuckled, then turned the two of you around, so his back was to the others. He lifted his mask and kissed you on the lips.  
“I’ll be back in an hour at the most.” he said, after letting go of you. “Josh, I’ll give you a call once I’m there. You gotta be my eyes.” And with that he ran up the stairs and was gone  
You sat down on the Sofa again, but couldn’t really concentrate on the show.  
Josh had walked over to his computer and was looking at the security feed of what looked like an industrial harbor.  
Futurama was still on the big TV, but everyone quickly joined Josh at his desk to watch what was happening.  
When his phone rang, he put on an earpiece before picking up.  
“I have you on screen.” he said in lieu of greeting. “They are unloading the boxes… I’ll mark them.”  
You couldn’t hear what Wrench said, but you saw him on the screen.  
The marked boxes glowed faintly on the camera feed. You wondered if Wrench could see the markings through his mask or if he had to use his phone like Marcus.  
There were a couple of burly guys patrolling the area but Wrench evaded them with ease. Every once in a while he would stop and hack something with his phone before continuing, but all in all, he made good progress and soon the first of the boxes was on fire.  
All of the goons were running towards it and he used the ensuing chaos to proceed to the second box. Josh had marked five total.  
Quickly the second box was on fire as well but then something went wrong.  
You only saw the guards and couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it seemed one had spotted Wrench.  
“Shit.” Marcus cursed, when the guy took aim.  
“You’ve been spotted.” Josh warned, but Wrench seemed to have noticed already. He hid and waited for the watchman to approach him before taking him out silently. It was beautiful. Watching him invade their hideout, you could almost convince yourself you were playing a video game and this wasn’t your boyfriend risking his life. All of you were so enthralled; no one noticed the security robot approaching Wrench. Only when he was almost upon him did Josh manage to shout out a warning.  
It was too late though. The robot gave an alarm signal before Wrench managed to hack it and shut it up. Now more of the goons were walking towards Wrench’s position.  
“Fuck” you whispered, gaze locked on the screen. Wordlessly, Sitara grabbed your hand and squeezed it.  
“He can still make it out.” Marcus tried calming you down. “He’s gotten out of worse.”  
You heard him, but his words didn’t register. Your whole body was tense and you squeezed Sitara’s hand as well.  
Wrench was fighting heroically. Two watchmen had him locked down but with a few practiced punches and kicks he managed to free himself and finally, he took the grenade launcher from his back.  
Once he had it in his hands, he didn’t hesitate to use it. Each of his shots was followed by a second of nothing happening and an explosion, and each shot was a hit, which was a good thing, since you didn’t think Wrench was carrying too much spare ammo.  
He ran out of grenades, when only one guy was left standing.  
“What’s he gonna do?” you asked, looking at the others nervously. They had seen Wrench fight much more often than you had. You were out of breath and your heart raced despite standing still.  
Somewhere in the background, Futurama was still playing but no one was paying any attention to it anymore.  
“He’ll make it out.” Sitara tried reassuring you.  
You held your breath when the guard took aim at Wrench. Wrench had seen him and knew where he was, so it was beyond you, why he tried running through the open space when he did.  
The guard fired and hit him. Wrench tumbled from the impact but made it to save cover before coming to a stop.  
“FUCK!” you shouted. “We need to go get him!” Nervously you grabbed Marcus by the arm and shook him.  
“Wait.” Marcus said and continued to stare at the screen.  
“What are you waiting for? He’s been shot!” you felt light headed with anxiety.  
The guard had almost reached Wrench and you watched spellbound, fingernails digging into your palms.  
“His distress signal.” Marcus said calmly.  
Wrench tripped the guard and managed to get on top of him, while holding his bleeding right arm with his other hand. He kicked the other man in the face a few times, before collapsing next to him.  
“Go get him.” Josh said suddenly. You hadn’t heard a distress signal, but you wouldn’t complain about going out to save your boyfriend.  
“We’ll be there in a few.” Marcus said and ran for the exit.  
You didn’t wait for an invitation and followed him up the stairs.

It didn’t take you long to reach the port. Marcus knew the city like the back of his hands and before you had even oriented yourself enough to figure out where you were, he stopped and got out of the car.  
Immediately, the smell of something burning hit you. In the distance, you heard police sirens. Where they coming towards you?  
No time to worry about that. Marcus was already running towards where the smoke clouds were the thickest and you had to hurry to keep up.  
“Wrench? Where are you, man?” Marcus shouted, almost tripping over a knocked out guard.  
You looked around in between boxes and shipping containers and finally heard Wrench chuckle somewhere to your right. “Wrench?” you asked loudly.  
“Over here.” he replied and the shipping container next to you made a metallic sound, from someone knocking on it.  
You ran around the corner and found Wrench sitting on the ground, his back to the container. “What are you doing?”  
He had taken his mask off and was holding his arm. “Cocaine!” he chuckled with a deep sniff.  
“Are you fucking serious?” you asked and pulled his uninjured arm around your neck to make him get up. “Marcus?” you shouted.  
“It’s good for the pain.” Wrench tried to explain. He managed to get his feet under him and holding on to you, he dizzily tumbled along.  
Marcus showed up just as you walked around the next corner and without a word took over supporting Wrench. You couldn’t both prop him up at the same time with his hurt arm, but Marcus was strong enough to shuffle Wrench towards the car by himself.  
“Get in the back seat with him and try to stop the bleeding.” Marcus ordered.  
You did as you were told and pulled Wrench’s torn sweater off.  
“Honey, I really don’t think now is the right moment.” Wrench giggled. His sweater was soaked in blood and the wound was clearly visible once you had stripped it off of him. It looked like the bullet only grazed him, which was good, probably. A thin rivulet of blood was lazily flowing out of the torn flesh. There was a first aid kit on the floor of the car and you rummaged through it, looking for something to dress the wound.  
“This is probably gonna hurt.” you said to Wrench, before spraying the bleeding gash with disinfectant.  
He twitched but didn’t show his pain otherwise.  
Once you had his arm wrapped up, you cradled Wrench’s head in your lap and held him. He was much too pale for your liking. How much blood had he lost? Could a person actually die from a shallow wound like that?  
“Wrench? Can you hear me?” you asked, voice shaky.  
“You can bet on it.” he replied.  
Had he just quoted High School Musical to you?  
You lifted his head up a bit. “Don’t fall asleep, love.” They always tried keeping people awake on TV so there had to be something to it, probably.  
“I won’t” he promised before closing his eyes.  
“Wrench!” you shook him gently.  
“We’re sooooaring… flyyyying…” he sang.  
“Is he singing High School Musical?” Marcus chuckled from the driver’s seat.  
“Yea, I think…” you murmured unsure. As long as he was talking, the situation couldn’t be that bad, could it?  
“There’s not a star in heaven that we can’t reach” his voice got lower as he sang and he ended in a sigh.  
“Wrench?”  
“Wrench jr. betrayed me! Did you see?” his voice was shaky all of a sudden and his eyes were glistening with unshed tears.  
“No, no no! That wasn’t Wrench jr.. That was probably his evil stepbrother.” you tried consoling him. “Wrench jr. would never do that to you!”  
“Yea, you’re right…” he murmured. Then, a second later: “My god, have I recently told you how beautiful you are?” he placed his bloody fingers on your face and pet your cheek. “Marcus isn’t she the most beautiful creature to ever step foot on earth?” he asked louder.  
You grimaced at the sticky feeling of the half dried blood on your skin, but didn’t complain. At least he was well enough to try to flirt with you.  
Marcus chuckled. “Yea man… you got yourself a good one there.”  
You blushed, even though you knew the compliments were probably mostly drug induced.  
“So pretty!” he whispered once more before closing his eyes.  
Just then, Marcus stopped the car and got out.  
You had a deja-vu moment when you helped Wrench walk inside the HQ.  
“How often does this kind of stuff actually happen to you?” you asked Marcus. Wrench had put on his mask again before getting out of the car and was walking mostly on his own, as you entered the building. Still, Marcus warily walked extra close to him, in case he’d fall.  
“Not too often if we can help it…” Marcus replied mysteriously.  
Sitara and Josh were eagerly awaiting your arrival. They had seen your rescue mission on camera but were still worried.  
“Do you think we should take him to the hospital?” you asked Sitara, after she had thoroughly inspected your makeshift bandage.  
She shook her head. “You can never take Wrench or Marcus to the hospital. They are on at least five most wanted lists and would probably get locked up for a long long time.”  
“Do you think he’ll be okay?”  
Wrench was resting on the sofa, mask showing -.-  
“Yea… it doesn’t seem to be bleeding anymore. You did well!” she praised. “But… you might wanna go wash up. How did you get so much blood on your face?”  
You rolled your eyes. “Apparently, I’m superpretty and you know how Wrench is with pretty things.”  
Sitara laughed. “Must touch.” she mocked.  
“I said you’re beautiful, not pretty.” Wrench was looking at you over the back of the sofa. “A flower is pretty. You’re a fucking goddess. Of course I have to touch!” With v.v on his mask, he vanished behind the backrest again, laying down.  
“Yea, he’s probably gonna be okay.” Marcus chuckled.  
This time he didn’t even bother sitting up: “Of course I’m gonna be okay! I’m the Wrench after all.”


	13. Mindgames and painful erections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A family emergency forces you to leave town... and then it doesn't. And in the end, they kiss.

You angrily threw your phone at the nightstand and let yourself fall backwards onto your bed. Talking to your mother was always fucking exhausting. And this call just now had been twice as bad, because your mother had broken her leg and wanted you to come back home to nurse her back to health for two weeks.  
With a sigh you grabbed your phone again and dialed Wrench’s number to tell him you’d be gone for two weeks. A part of you was hoping he’d come along to join you, but you kinda knew that wouldn’t be happening. Dedsec was deep in the game these days. You rarely got to see any of your friends. It had come to the point, that you even considered hanging out with your coworkers out of sheer desperation for human contact.  
After the fifth ring you put away the phone angrily. Wrench usually had his phone either in his hands or didn’t look at it for hours. There was no in between with him.  
You quickly sent him a text to let him know you’d have to go away for two weeks and to call you.  
“Ugh!” you made once more and angrily slapped the bed. A familiar mew, told you you had a little furry visitor to cheer you up.  
Boy stepped onto your thigh and walked upwards to knead your tummy with his paws before making himself comfortable and curling up on top of you.  
“I’m gonna miss you.” you said to the cat. It had only been a few months since you had moved here, but you loved your new life and really didn’t want to go back to your parents’ house.  
With a sigh, you started looking for a flight to Vancouver.

The feeling of something tickling your hip woke you up an indeterminable amount of time later. When you opened your eyes, Wrench was bent over your tummy with the back of his head facing you. He chuckled as something was tickling you again.  
“What are you doing?” you mumbled sleepily, gently putting your hand on his lower back.  
“Nooo! I’m not done yet! Go back to sleep!” he turned half towards you and placed his hand over your face, turning your head away.  
“What are you doing?” you repeated but couldn’t hold back a little chuckle this time. You lifted yourself up onto your elbows to check.  
“I made you a tattoo.” he said, moving a bit, so you could look at your hipbone, “it’s waterproof,” he had drawn the outline of a small wrench on your skin.  
“Dummie.” you laughed, but pulled him in for a kiss anyways. Well, for a headbutt, since he was wearing his mask, but by now, it was feeling equally intimidate with him. “Why aren’t you wearing your sling?” you continued after you pulled apart again.  
“It’s fucking annoying.” he murmured, casting his glance downwards. “I can’t do anything with it on!”  
“You're not supposed to do anything, that's kinda the point! You were shot! You need to take care of yourself, until you’re all good again!” Sometimes you felt you were too patronizing, other times you felt that he needed someone to take care of him. When it came to caring for his injuries, you were all about the second option.  
He sighed. “I’m sorry.” v.v lit up on his mask for a second, before switching to !.! “Why are you looking at flights to Vancouver by the way?” ?.? “Please tell me it’s not what I’m thinking.”  
“I don’t know… what are you thinking?”  
“Well… either you wanna get away from me, which I could totally understand, but you’re gonna have to go farther than Canada to be out of my reach,” he paused with an evil chuckle, “or… and this would be so much worse… you’re Canadian!” he placed his hands left and right of his face and his mask switched to O.O  
“Are you doing your Deadpool impression again?” you chuckled. “You’re finally getting better! Slow but steady wins the race.”  
“Don’t change the subject!”  
“Didn’t you get my text? I gotta go see my mother… and Vancouver is the closest airport to my hometown.  
“You’re making me so happy right now! I By not being a Canadian and not wanting to leave me, I mean… not by going away. How long will you be gone?”  
“Two weeks, probably.” you sighed, “you wouldn’t maybe wanna come along, would you?”  
“I’d really rather not… I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m not exactly the kind of guy mothers want for their daughters….” he murmured.  
“Yea, I figured…” you sighed. “Well then… how about some goodbye sex? I have to leave tomorrow!”

You didn’t get much sleep that night. Wrench was getting up unusually early, claiming he had some important Dedsec stuff™ to do.  
Saying goodbye to him was harder than you had hoped it would be. You’d only be gone for two weeks but you still felt like crying when he vanished through the door.  
Sitara had agreed to drive you to the airport in the early afternoon. You put off packing as long as possible, but finally had to do it anyways. You stuffed a couple of your warmer clothes into a much too small overnight bag. When it wouldn’t close properly, you angrily kicked it against the wall, spilling all of your clothes out on the floor again.  
“Sitaraaaaaa…..” you wailed, sitting on the floor in your room, surrounded by your clothes. “I don’t wanna go!”  
Instead of Sitara, Kali chose to answer your call. She came inside, tail in the air and sat down on top of your clothes after sniffing them thoroughly.  
You rolled yourself around her and tried hugging her. She, being a cat, would have none of it of course. With an annoyed meow she quickly wiggled herself free from your embrace and sat down a little way away from you, cleaning herself.  
“You know you have a perfectly fine suitcase waiting for you in the closet, right?” Sitara suddenly said, from the doorway, her hand on the grip of said suitcase.  
“Yea, but I don’t wanna take it. If I take the suitcase, it makes me feel like I’ll be away for even longer.”  
“Awww…” she stepped into your room and squatted next to you, gently placing her arm around your shoulders. “You’ll be back here in no time! I’ll look after Wrench for you, okay?”  
“Thanks.” you hugged her before getting up and throwing the clothes from the floor into the open suitcase without any system at all. Your toiletry bag got squeezed in last and by the time you snapped the suitcase shut, it was almost time to leave.  
You hugged each cat goodbye. Kali protested the being hugged part, while Boy was more concerned about the letting go part that came after, but you were covered in hair and therefore your outfit was complete and you were ready to leave.  
Sighing you walked out the door behind Sitara.

You hadn’t been driving long when your phone rang. It took some acrobatics to get it out of your back pocket while sitting in the car, but you made it before the call went to voice mail. It was your mother.  
“God, what does she want now?” you murmured before picking up.  
“Y/N, this is your mother. Since you made it so very clear to me yesterday that you had better stuff to do and didn’t really want to come here, I won’t force you to. I changed my mind. I don’t want you to come here. Your sister will help me instead.”  
“Mum, what the fuck?”  
“Don’t curse at me!”  
“Sorry, but…”  
“No buts. Don’t come here, understood?”  
Rolling your eyes, you turned to Sitara, who had obviously heard your mother, with a puzzled look on your face.  
“Well then… see you Christmas, I guess…” you said, and despite your best efforts, a bit of sadness seeped into your voice.

“Did you just hear that?” you said to Sitara, after hanging up.  
“She’s still doing that thing where she tries to make you feel bad for being such a big, fat meanie to her? I thought you said she was going to therapy for that?”  
“Yea, obviously therapy doesn’t work….”  
“Are you okay?”  
“Yea, actually, I’m quite happy! I mean… I didn’t wanna go anyways, so yay for me, I guess?” you tried cheering yourself up.  
“Come on, let’s get coffee.” Sitara said and did a U-Turn on the road.

Half an hour later, you entered Gary’s Games&Glory with a to-go tray full of coffee in your hands. You hadn’t bothered calling Wrench but wanted to surprise him by simply showing up at the HQ.  
Which was, why you were kinda bummed when he wasn’t there when you came downstairs.  
Marcus was printing something on the 3D Printer and Josh was staring into his screens, all of which were filled with lines and lines of code.  
“Where’s Wrench?” you asked, handing Marcus his drink, plain Coldbrew on ice.  
“He was here earlier but left about an hour ago.” he took a deep swig from his coffee. “Mhhhmmm… that’s the good shit.”  
You gave Josh his Iced Caramel Frappuccino with extra caramel. He took it without moving his eyes away from the screen. “Thank you.”  
Techno Music was playing on the speakers and the soft smell of weed hung in the air. The organized chaos gave the room a busy, yet somewhat cozy feeling and with a contented sigh, you let yourself fall onto the sofa with your coffee. This felt so much homelier than your parents’ house.  
The others had jokingly bought you a copy of “Coding for Dummies” and you made a point of reading it whenever you were there with them. Coffee in one hand, book in the other, you stretched yourself out on the sofa, happy to be exactly where you were, even though someone important was missing.  
That certain someone didn’t make you wait too long though. You had only read a few pages when you heard the sliding door at the top of the stairs open and close. You saw Wrench’s converse clad feet come down the stairs, shouting for the others to look at him.  
“You guys! Since Y/N is out of town for two weeks… I did something!” he chuckled maniacally.  
“Whatever you’re about to say man… shut up!” Marcus hissed, but Wrench was so excited, he didn’t stop talking.  
“I know, for most of you, two weeks without sex is easy… it’s probably the norm for each of you guys. For someone like me, a prime example of pure manliness, it’s hard though, you know? So now, since my lovely datemate is out of town and I can’t even duel with the pink Darth Vader with my stupid arm, if you catch my drift… I present you my new piercing!”  
You had stayed very still during his speech hidden by the backrest of the sofa and Wrench obviously hadn’t seen you yet.  
“You can’t tell her! It’s supposed to be a surprise!” he said pointedly looking at Sitara and then, without further warning, he pulled his pants and boxers down to his knees and presented everyone with his freshly pierced dick.  
“Just spilled your own surprise, dumbass.” Sitara murmured in a low voice. Wrench probably couldn’t hear her but you had to bite your lip to stop yourself from chuckling.  
“You can’t pull shit like that on us, man!” Marcus groaned, shielding his view of Wrench’s privates with his outstretched hand.  
“Sure can! Look at it! Isn’t it gorgeous?” he was standing in the middle of the steps, which put his dick at about eyelevel with Marcus who was leaning next to the 3D Printer in the front part of the room.  
“Yea, yea, whatever… just put it away again, man! Y/N why do you let this kind of thing happen?” Marcus shouted towards you.  
“How is this my fault?” you replied, finally sitting up. “I can’t control him any more than you can.”  
“Why do bad things happen to good people?” Marcus murmured turning back towards the printer.  
“Wait! Why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be at the airport?” Wrench quickly pulled his pants back up and moved towards you. He looked kinda sexy with his unbuttoned pants hanging low on his hips.  
“Turns out, my mum loves playing mindgames more than actually having someone to take care of her.”  
“But now… my surprise is spoiled.” he said. v.v lighting up on his display.  
“Don’t worry, I could barely even see it from here.” you put your book to the side and got up to hug him.  
“Oww, don’t do that… I oww… “  
“Huh?” You quickly let go of him again.  
“I can’t have an erection for a week. You pushing your gorgeous bod against mine… not helping!”  
A sly grin spread over your face.  
“Don’t look at me like that, woman!” he said, >.< appearing on his display.  
“What do you mean?” you smirked, suggestively letting your fingers glide from your collarbone towards your breast.  
“Stop this!” he said, turning away from you, “don’t think of her,” he said to his crotch, “she’s a mean woman. We don’t like her!”

After a few minutes of pacing the room, Wrench seemed to finally have calmed his dick down enough and went to his workbench to work on what looked suspiciously like a toaster. You were reading your book again, but wanted to get your new knowledge to a practical level. That book really was explaining stuff well enough for absolute noobs.  
Wrench didn’t react when you asked him to give you a laptop you could use, so you walked to Josh.  
He startled when you started talking next to him, but was happy enough to give you a laptop and help you with a few simple exercises.  
You had never heard him talk as much as this afternoon, but obviously he was passionate about coding and programming and he loved talking about it.  
Turned out, he had started when he was five and hadn’t stopped ever since.  
You knew you’d never get to his level of knowledge, but that wasn’t your goal anyways. You didn’t want to become the worlds’ best code monkey but it would be nice to understand what the others were talking about when they were “in the zone” as you liked to call it.  
By the end of the day you had managed to write a simple program that asked you for your name and then greeted you when you entered your name. Everyone other would be told to fuck off.  
“Woohoo! Look what I did!” you cheered after testing it for the very first time. You hugged Josh before you could stop yourself. He was all stiff and rigid in your embrace.  
“Oh, sorry!!” you said when you realized what you had done.  
“It’s okay.” he said slowly, moving away from you a bit as if to make sure you wouldn’t accidentally hug him again.  
Before the situation got any more uncomfortable you took the laptop and carried it to where Wrench was still working on his toaster. What was he doing to it anyways?  
“Look what I made!” you said, proudly placing the laptop on top of his project.  
“Huh? What is it?”  
The program prompted him to enter his name and he did as he was told. After hitting enter, it took the program a second, before displaying the message. You had built in a special message for Wrench’s name. [I love you] appeared in big white letters on the screen.  
?.? was replaced by <3.<3 on his mask and he hugged you. “That’s so sweet!” he said.  
“Yea! Enter another name!” you prompted.  
Wrench complied and laughed, when the program told him to fuck off.  
“It’s true, you know?” you said, Fuck off still on the screen.  
“What’s true?”  
“That I love you.”  
He didn’t say anything <3.<3 still on his mask. Looking around the room, he shrugged and opened the clasp on his mask. “I love you too.” he said, before crushing your lips with his.  
You chuckled into his mouth but were quickly pulled into the kiss and forgot everything around you.  
“Fuck this is so painful.” he suddenly exclaimed and let go of you, looking down at his crotch.  
You grinned. “Sorry, I won’t do it again!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly don't know if intercontinental travel works like that in the USA... would an american go to Vancouver if it was closer to their hometown? I imagine border controls would slow them down probably, but I don't know and I really wanted to do a Canada joke, so....


	14. Brie and Anchovies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wrench's piercing is bothering both of you more than you'd like. Also, an unerotic picnic and the death of a beloved character

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My friend challenged me to do an erotic scene involving brie and anchovies.  
> Its not really erotic, but it sure was fun to write! I hope you enjoy it! haha

Turned out, a week without an erection was almost impossible for Wrench to manage. He stayed over at your place the first night. Huge mistake. Almost as soon as you cuddled up to him, he started bitching and whining about how he couldn’t stay flaccid with you touching him. Around midnight, he finally gave up and announced he’d sleep the rest of the night on the sofa. You pouted as he walked out of your bedroom, but were so tired after all your goodbye sex last night, you quickly fell asleep.  
When you woke up some time later and got up to pee, Wrench was snoring. The light from the streetlamps outside illuminated the living room enough that you could see Kali sleeping next to his feet, on the sofa. Good thing he was fast asleep. He still claimed he didn’t like the cats, even though you were pretty sure you had seen him pet Kali a few days earlier.  
On your way back from the bathroom, you pulled up his blanket and gave him a quick kiss, before going back to bed again.  
You hadn’t slept alone in weeks. And now you remembered why: it sucked.

In the morning, you woke up way too early and couldn’t fall back asleep again. After tossing and turning for what felt like hours, you finally gave up and got up. Grumpily you made your way towards the kitchen, only to stop dead in your tracks. Kali was sitting on top of Wrench and he was petting and her and ruffling her fur. Now you had seen everything. Silently walking back to your bed, you got your phone and snapped a picture of the two. No one would ever believe you if you didn’t have proof.  
You silently cursed yourself when the flash went off. Wrench startled and rudely threw Kali off.  
“This isn’t what it looks like!” he defensively exclaimed and hastily sat up.  
“You sure? Because to me, it looked like you and Kali are friends.”  
“Umm….” he said, obviously at a loss for words.  
“You know I’ll have to tell the others, right?” you chuckled, your grumpiness completely forgotten.  
“Come on, don’t do that! You can’t destroy my carefully curated animal hating persona just like that.”  
“Make it worth my while and I won’t tell.” you grinned.

 

"I never realized you got a boner around me all the time." you teased when you entered Wrench’s garage a few days later. He had invited you for dinner, as a bribe for your silence.  
"I don't... but you know how it is... I look at you and there you are, wearing your flimsy shirts and shorts and I imagine all the things I’d like to do to you... But it's not as painful as it was in the beginning, soooo... I missed you!" He had walked towards you from his workbench while talking and pulled you in for a kiss.  
When he was alone at his garage, he almost never wore the mask, which was nice for a change.  
"I made us a picnic with the most unerotic foods I could think of, so we wont be tempted to try anything." he explained. "Let me just finish this first."

You sat down on an old seat bench he had kept from a dismantled car, watching him. It took you about half a minute to realize what he was working on. "Why are you destroying Wrench Jr.?" you asked, jumping out of your seat and running towards him.  
"I can't look him in the eye anymore, after... the incident." he said, sadness tainting his voice.  
"But... it wasn't him!" you tried defending the robot. Why the fuck were you defending a robot?  
"Yea, but there's nothing keeping him from turning on me as well."  
"Umm... I thought you hacked his software?"  
"Yea, but... I don't know, just doesn't feel right having him here. I can't trust him . He knows too much. The things he's seen..." With a sigh, he lit the blowtorch and set it against Wrench Jr's backside. It was bordering on ridiculous how much it pained you to see the robot be treated like that. You knew how much he had meant to Wrench at one point.  
Once the outer shell was cut in two, he put it to the side and wordlessly handed you a pair of safety goggles. Putting on his mask, he took his trusted sledgehammer from the corner, wincing a bit, since his arm still wasn't completely healed.  
Once you realized what he was about to do, you quickly put the goggles on and sat down in the car seat again.  
Watching him with the big hammer made you feel all kinds of things in your nether regions. He looked much too scrawny to move the heavy tool but even with the arm and all he managed.  
You leaned back in the seat and enjoyed the show. "Good thing I don't have a new piercing." you murmured, not sure if he heard you or not over the banging.  
He looked at you and ^.- lit up on his display in his version of a wink. "Enjoying the show?" he asked, flexing his arm muscles.  
"Very much" you replied, licking your lips.  
"You can think about this when you're touching yourself tonight." Putting the sledgehammer to the side, he pulled his T-Shirt off over his head.  
He still had a Hello Kitty band aid on his arm which kinda destroyed his badass act he was going for, but in all honesty silly things like that made you love him even more.  
"It ain’t easy looking this good." he said wiping his sweaty forehead with a dirty rag. His tattooed body glistened from the exercise and you were sitting there, ogling him like an idiot.  
Once all of robot Wrench’s parts were sufficiently destroyed, human Wrench scooped most of the mess up and put it into a black garbage bag. The few spare parts he hadn’t gotten to, he simply kicked to the side, to add to the general chaos in the room.  
"You know that feeling, when you're both sad and relieved?" he asked, after placing the bag in the corner next to a bunch of similar ones. Like... I'm sad I'm childless like all of you other losers yet again, with no one to pass on my genes, but at the same time, finally the enemy in my garage is gone."  
The sheer idiocy of this statement left you at a loss for words for a second. "I never had to kill my own robotic child, so sadly, I can't relate."  
  
Half an hour later, Wrench came out of his RV, toweling off his hair. You were chilling in the late afternoon sun under the tree outside.   
"Are you ready for the most unerotic dinner in the history of dinners?" he asked, plucking the joint you were smoking from your fingers.   
You lazily opened your eyes. "Yea sure, bring it on. Let's see what it takes to turn us off. You need any help?"  
"Nope, I got it." he vanished inside again and came back out half a minute later, carrying a tray.  
"Okay, here we have: some german pumpernickel, the least sexy kind of bread, Anchovies, the most disgusting kind of canned food there is, Bell peppers, the most boring shaped of all veggies, some olives and hummus, even though I have to admit I'm not entirely sure about the unsexiness of hummus... I mean, I could think of all kind of things to do with that..."  
"Please don't go there..." you interrupted.  
He chuckled and stuck his finger in the hummus before sticking it into his mouth and licking it off in what you assumed was supposed to be a sexual way.  
"And to top it all off..." he put the last plate on the table, "some Brie, to make our breaths nice and stinky... and for the same reason: some fresh garlic. What do you think?"  
"Get me a beer and some more weed and we're good to go. I promise I won't fuck you over a piece of pumpernickel. But just out of interest... which is the sexiest kind of bread?"  
"Bagels of course... d'uh"  
“Now that you said it… I’m kinda ashamed I even asked.”  
“And good thing too! That was a really dumb question.”  
“Sorryyyy…” you murmured. “Must be all the beer and weed, making me go dumb… Where is the beer by the way?”  
“Still in the fridge…Can you get me one as well? I'm already sitting down.” he said, letting himself plopp down in his chair.  
Rolling your eyes, you got up.  
  
  
You took two beers out of the fridge and opened one. Taking a sip from your can you were about to walk back outside but missed the lowest step and stumbled towards Wrench. He managed to catch you, but not before you had spilled half of your beer all over you and him.  
“That was scary!” you mumbled, as you found yourself in his arms.  
“One might say… you just fell for me.” he chuckled.  
“One might also say I’m all wet for you.” you joined in.  
“You smell like a sexy beer... siren.”  
“Yea… disgusting… eugh…” You pulled your wet top over your head, leaving you in your purple lace bra and cut-off jeans shorts. Wrench hadn’t bothered putting on anything but a pair of jeans after his shower and the beer made both of you all wet and sticky.  
“Aww, man... you're wearing my favorite bra!” Wrench exclaimed.  
“This one is your favorite?” you looked down at yourself.  
“Yea… I mean… my favorite is no bra at all, but my second favorite is that one…” he traced the lacy outline of one cup with his finger. You watched him nervously lick his lips, gaze locked on your breasts.  
“So pretty.” he whispered.  
You chuckled.  
“You really can’t do that.”  
“What do you mean? That?” you pulled down one of your brastraps so it fell off your shoulder.  
“That’s so fucking mean.” he whispered, fingers still caressing your skin.  
“And you love every second of it.”  
“Yea… awwh, fuck it!” In one smooth movement, he lifted you up on the wobbly table and started kissing you. He made quick work of your bra and buried his face between your breasts.  
“Fuck this hurts so bad.” he whined when he came up for breath.   
His rock hard erection pushed against you as he lowered you backwards on the table, not giving a fuck about the uneroticity of all the food that was squished under your naked back.  
“This is soooooo disgusting.” you whined. Something wet, probably either the hummus or the brie, spread between your shoulderblades.  
"Thats what you get for being such a tease."   
"Ass" you shot back. When he let his fingers glide into your pants you forgot all about how disgusted you were. You closed your eyes and enjoyed, but the noises Wrench made were too odd.   
"What are you doing?" you asked, opening your eyes. There was a look of intense concentration on his face.   
"Thinking of dead puppies." he pressed out between tightly gritted teeth.   
"Why the fuck?"   
"So I wont get horny."   
With a sigh, you pulled his hand out of your pants. "Don't... I want you to enjoy yourself when we're together."  
"But... I enjoy making you cum."  
"But you don't enjoy thinking of dead puppies, do you?" you sat up and grimaced, when you felt all the food sticking to your back.   
"Not really... I mean... they're better than live puppies, but..." he trailed off, looking down at his crotch. "Only a few more days."  
"We'll manage" you tried cheering him up. "Now... can you please get the pumpernickel off of my back?"   
"Want me to hose you down?" he chuckled. Looking over your shoulder, he gingerly picked a piece of bread off your ribcase and nibbled on it. "You smell like brie and anchovies... I'll never be able to not think of you now when I have either of those."   
With a snort, you pushed him away and got up. Shaking yourself like a dog, some of the food fell off, some didn't. You stripped, making sure he got a good view of your naked ass, and walked inside to have a shower.   
"Why don't you make yourself useful and order us some takeout?" you stretched your head out the door while the water was getting warm.   
"Nah... its just a little squashed, we can still eat that." Wrench was sitting on the ground, eating. You sighed. You had kind of expected him to do something like that.   
Your life had gotten so much more weird since you met him. And you loved every minute of it.


	15. an awesome action sequence (TM)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y/N gets a new tattoo, Wrench isn't feeling too good and then they go on an adventure!

It was late afternoon a few days later. You were sitting on your bed, laptop on your lap, the coding for dummies book open next to you. Boy was sleeping on the foot end of the bed and a soft breeze was playing with your curtains.   
You were working on the homework Josh had given you, from your coding lessions. He was a great teacher, but you couldn't quite figure out this one line of code.   
With a sigh you put the laptop to the side and leaned back on the bed to check on your new tattoo. You still had the protective foil on, but were already very much in love with the fine black lines.   
Boy's ears twitched when he heard someone insert a key into the front door. Considering what time it was, it was probably Sitara coming home.   
You quickly got up and hurried to the kitchen to fill two glasses of wine.   
"Honey, I'm home!" she shouted, closing the door behind her.   
"And once again I didn't make dinner." you apologized. "But I think you'll like this much better anyways." Grinning, you walked into the living room where she had sat down on the sofa, wine glasses in hands.   
"I was about to scold you for being an awful wife, but I'll accept the apology.... one last time." she laughed.   
You put the wineglasses on the table, but didn't sit down. "I wanna show you something! But you can't tell Wrench yet! I want it to be a surprise!" you grinned excited.   
"Oh god, what did you do? If you wanna show me your new genital piercing, please don't!" she hid her face in her hands.   
"Haha, no, I won't depricate my beautiful, perfect vagina like that. My surprise is so much better!"  
You pulled down the waistband of your panties just a bit, to reveal the small tattoo on your hipbone.   
You had liked the small drawing of the wrench Wrench had done a few days ago so much, you decided to make it permanent.   
"Do you think he'll like it?"  
"He'll love it." Sitara chuckled, gently tracing the lines through the foil. "Speak of the devil." she said when the door was opened once again.   
"Is anybody home?" Wrench shouted.   
"Hey wife number two." Sitara replied.   
"So you're the husband in our relationship?" Wrench entered the room with O.o on his mask.   
"Obviously!" she replied, raising an eyebrow.  
"Hi" you said, ignoring their bickering, and hugged him. He hugged you back, holding on to you for much longer than usual.  
"Can I have some of that?" he asked, pointing to the wine.   
"Sure... I'll get you a straw."   
He sat down and leaned back on the sofa, unusually quiet.  
You poured another glass of wine and placed a straw inside. When you came back and Wrench didn't comment on your pantsless state, you got seriously worried. Exchanging glances with Sitara, you sat down next to him and put his arm around your back.   
He was holding the glass in his hand and wordlessly sucked wine through the straw.   
"I'll leave you two alone." Sitara said and got up, reading the mood. She picked up Boy from the ground and carried him and her wine to her room.   
Wrench didn't say anything until his glass was empty. “Can we go for a walk, maybe?”  
“Yea sure. Is everything okay? You seem... off”   
“I’m good… no, actually not. The downward spiral… it’s starting to turn again.” he made a circle motion in the air with his fingers.   
You hugged him from the side and kissed his neck. “I’m here.”   
He let his head rest against yours and sighed deeply.  
“We can also go to bed or something, if you want to.” you whispered, sensing he needed to be close to you.  
“Yea… later… I’d rather be outside for a bit.” he said "If I stay inside now and lock myself up, it's gonna get bad again." his chest heaved with a sigh and his shoulders hung by his sides limply.   
You smiled at him reassuringly and placed your hand on his chin. "We wont let it get bad again. I'll protect you from your demons."  
He scooched close to you and placed his head on your chest. After a moment's hesitation, he removed his mask and closed his eyes, letting his fingers dance over the skin of your naked thighs.  
Closing your eyes as well, you wrapped your arms around him, feeling that was what he needed right now.   
You felt bad for banishing Sitara to her room, but you knew she'd understand. He was her friend as well after all and she wanted him happy too.   
  
You started to think Wrench had fallen asleep, when he suddenly sat back up half an hour later. "Okay, I think we can go for that walk now." he said and kissed your forehead. "Thanks for putting up with my shit."  
"Don't worry about it." you said, getting up and putting on some pants and your jacket. It was getting late and the nights slowly started getting a bit cooler.  
“Ready.” you said, as you put on your converse.  
“Are you serious?” Wrench asked, looking at you from the sofa. He had put his mask back on and it was still going through the initialisation process.  
“What? What is it?” you looked down at yourself and chuckled when you realized what he was referring to. You wore converse, same as him, ripped black skinny jeans, same as him and a black leather jacket with studs around the shoulders.  
“Thats your fault! Your style is rubbing off on me.” you said. Taking his hand, you pulled him out the door.

“So where do you want to go?” you asked once you were on the street.  
“I don’t care, I just wanna walk with you.” he draped his arm around your shoulder and you put yours around his lower back.  
The city felt different now that it was slowly becoming fall. It seemed calmer somehow and more peaceful.  
Neither of you said anything. Words weren’t necessary. When Wrench suddenly stopped and sat down on a park bench, you joined him and scooched close to him. You didn’t notice how he was scanning your surroundings. “I think we’re being followed," he suddenly said.  
“Huh?” you said and looked around, trying to make out a possible enemy.  
“That guy over there… he has been walking behind us since we left your house… and when we sat down, he sat down as well. And I think he's got a gun under his vest. Come on.” he pulled you up and started walking again. The guy got up as well.   
The sense of peace you'd just felt was blown away.   
“Don’t act scared. I don’t think he knows we noticed him yet.” Wrench said calmly. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.” He pulled you close once more.  
“What do we do?”  
“We’ll get rid of him and then go back to my place. Text Sitara to stay inside and lock the door.”  
You did as you were told and let him lead you into a side alley.  
“What are you doing? This is a dead end.” you asked when you looked up from your phone.   
“Nope.” he said and pointed to a fire escape. “I’ll boost you up. We’ll go to the roof and jump over to the next building…. Don’t look at me like that. It’s not that big a jump.”  
All of a sudden, your heart was racing. “What do you think he wants?”  
“I’ll explain later, climb up now… and be quiet.”  
He put his hands together to make a step for you. You stepped in with shaky knees and pushed yourself up. When you gripped the lowest rung of the ladder, you stepped on his shoulders.  
You really wished you’d be a bit more of an exercise person and a bit less of a junk foodie. Pulling yourself up was bordering on impossible. It took a lot more pushing from Wrench until you managed to find purchase with your legs. Once you were safely up on the platform to the first floor, Wrench took a run- up and jumped to get hold of the lowest rung. He pulled himself up effortlessly and started running up the stairs without pausing.  
You followed Wrench, but before you made it to the top, you saw your pursuer at the head of the alley. And he saw you on the fire exit.  
Wrench had made it to the roof already, but he saw the other man as well.  
“Fuck.” he murmured. “Are you okay? Come on!”  
You reached the roof and he pulled you after him, half running towards the edge of the building.  
A few meters before the edge, he stopped and took both your hands in his. “Listen to me. Don’t stop to look down, okay? Just follow me and jump. You can make it!” he said, looking at you intently.  
Nervously licking your lips you nodded.  
Wrench let go of your hand and ran towards the edge. Without the slightest hesitation, he jumped and landed on the next building. It looked easy, but with him, of course it would.  
You took a deep breath and started running as well. The edge was approaching much too quickly for your liking. You forced yourself not to think of what lay beyond the edge but focused on him instead. The next house wasn't as tall as your starting, which made the jump much easier.   
He caught you in his arms once your feet made contact with the next building.  
“See! I told you you’d make it. Now we only got to do that same thing once or twice more so we can be reasonably sure we’ve lost him and then we can grab a car somewhere and go home, okay?”  
You nodded. Your heart was pounding in your chest but you were awfully proud of yourself. Looking back at the other house, the distance seemed huge.  
Once more, Wrench grabbed your hand and pulled you after him. You hurried after him and only realized the roof had ended when he was jumping. There was no distance between the two houses though, just a little height difference.  
“Okay, just once more, down there and we’ll be good to go.” he said, pointing towards what you assumed was a much lower building, since you couldn’t see anything where he was pointing.  
“Are you still okay? You haven’t said anything in a while.”  
“Yea, yea, just a bit… shaky.” you replied and your voice sounded breathless.  
“Okay, how about we take five here before we continue?”  
“No, I can take it, come on, let’s go!”  
“Alright, your wish is my command,” he winked.  
You took a few steps towards where he had indicated. The next building was a gas station. There was quite a bit of height difference but after the past two jumps you were confident you could make it.  
“Wanna go first this time?” he asked.  
“Hells no! You gotta catch me!”  
Chuckling, he took a run- up again. You followed quickly after, which was why it was too late to stop, when he told you to.  
“What the fuck?” you muttered after you landing on your hands and knees.   
“That guy before, he belonged to the Tezcas. That car over there… it’s them as well.” he pointed at a beat up low rider that was parked on the other side of the street. You could see two heavily tattooed guys with blueish bandanas on their heads sitting in the front seats in the illumination from a nearby street lamp. “And that car too.” he pointed at another car to your other side.  
"Why are they following us?"  
"Your guess is as good as mine, but one of them probably recognised me when I was fucking up their cocaine."  
“Do you think they’ve seen us?” you asked unsure.  
“I don’t think so, but they will see us if we try to get down from here.” he said, voice low.  
“So what do you wanna do?”  
“Hmm… you don’t happen to have any kind of weapon in that bag of yours, do you?”  
“Meh… I left my AK47 at home, sorry.” you answered sarcastically.  
“Let’s wait and see if they leave on their own. Those probably aren't even here for us.” he said pondering your situation for a moment.  
“Umm… Wrench?” you whispered. “I think that one over there… she’s one of them as well, isn’t she?”  
“Fuck.” he hissed. On the roof of the next house was a woman dressed in the same colors as the guys on the street, bandana around her head, with a big gun in her hands. She hadn’t spotted you yet but at this point it was more a question of WHEN than IF. Suddenly you were very glad you were wearing all black for once.  
“Come here.” Wrench said and hurried towards the AC unit on the roof.  
You crouched down and ran after him.  
“I think we probably stumbled into the middle of a deal of theirs or something.”  
“Yea, I think you’re right.” you said and pointed at another roof. There was another guy with a gun. “Wrench… I’m scared.”  
“Yea, me too… but we’ll figure this out. I'll protect you.”   
There was no possibility to hide from both of the gunmen at the same time. You had to hope they wouldn’t choose to look in your direction.  
Wrench had taken out his phone and was scanning the area. You huddled close to him and tried not to make too big of a target of yourself.  
“There’s a couple of cameras around us.” he whispered and pointed to various directions. “I’m trying to get a look at our location from every direction. We can probably knock a few of those guys out… but then they’ll know we’re around somewhere. Get your phone, you have to help me.”  
You got out your phone and opened the Dedsec app. Playing around with it for a bit had taught you most of the things it was capable of and you quickly managed to hack into one of the cameras to your left.  
“Can I hack that power box?” you asked and held your phone out to him.  
“Yea, that’s a good one.” he said and took your phone. He lured the two gunmen you had found towards the box and when they were close enough, he knocked both of them out by electrocuting them.  
“Just like that.” he said and gave your phone back to you. “We’ll fuck those sons'a bitches up so good!” he whispered and squeezed you with one arm.  
Each of you managed to knock out a few more gang members before someone noticed that something wasn’t right.   
He alarmed the others and they started searching the area.  
“Yea, look for us on the ground, fuckers…” Wrench chuckled. He had just electrocuted the guy on the roof opposite of you, so no one would be able to find you, except for… you froze, when you heard something clang on the metal that framed the roof of the gas station. Wrench had heard it too. He got up and silently moved towards the sound. You remained where you were, trying not to make any noise. A woman was walking on the other side of the AC unit you were leaning against. Wrench moved to the corner and waited for her to get into his reach, then grabbed her in a choke hold and held on until she passed out.  
“That was close.” he whispered and took her gun from her limp hand. “But now, the party can finally begin! Stay right here, I’ll get you in a few minutes. Oh and… can you do a mass comms hack for me, sweet-cheeks? We can't have them call in reinforcements."  
You nodded. When playing around with the app, you had accidentally done the mass comms hack once and everyone had been pissed off at you for taking away their internet. Good thing it only took about five minutes for everything to go back to normal.  
Every phone within hearing distance made a short beep as it was cut off from the network and then you heard shooting and whoops of joy from where Wrench was.  
He enjoyed killing almost a little too much. This was neither the time nor the place to worry about that though.  
You watched your enemies go down through the cameras and when you saw someone climb up the ladder again, you hacked their phone to distract them. Wrench heard the ear piercing beep and quickly shot the guy down.  
After some more shooting, everything went silent. Everything but the police sirens in the distance.  
“Come on, let’s leave!” Wrench hurried towards you and grabbed your hand to pull you up. He ran towards the edge of the roof and jumped down with a backflip.   
You grimaced down at him disbelievingly and slowly moved towards the ladder.   
By the time you had reached the ground Wrench had already aquired a car. You refused to think of it as stolen, since he usually gave the cars back, sometimes even in working condition. You also refused to see the dead bodies on the ground. There was no time for remorse. The police sirens were getting closer by the minute.   
Before you had even closed the door, Wrench pulled out of the parking lot.   
"Whew, that was quite something, huh? Way to go, fighting back my demons!" he said, yipping with joy as you drove off through the night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can honestly say, I think this is my best action sequence so far!  
> Let me know what you think of it in the comments, maybe?


	16. Massage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wrench gets a massage... for the first time in his life!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter doesn't have any plot at all, seriously, you wont miss anything if you skip it, but i enjoyed writing it and its cute and fun and fluffy, sooo... read it, maybe?

"Ugh! My shoulders are so fucking tense," you complained, "wanna give me a massage?"  
You were sitting on the sofa, with Wrench trying to explain some coding problem to you.  
"But... what about the code?" he asked, eager to get you to understand. You had already realized he wouldn’t be able to dumb his explanations down enough for you. He hadn’t yet.  
"I bet it will wait..." you rolled your eyes, already exhausted from his lesson after only 10 minutes and leaned back on the sofa with a sigh.  
"That bad?” he snickered, leaning back as well, with his hands behind his head.  
You nodded at him. “I’m simply too dumb.” your voice was muffled from hiding your face in your hands.  
“Bullshit. You’ll understand it sooner or later. It really isn’t that hard.” he put his arm around your shoulders and scooched towards you.  
You wriggled free of his grasp and turned your back to him, pulling your hair out of the way. Without a warning, he clamped down on your shoulders like a robot, not having a care in the world where bones ended and muscles started and started rhythmically squeezing.  
"Oww! Please stop that or you'll break something!" you excaped from his grasp and moved away a few centimeters.  
"Sorry, I've never done this before..." he held his hands up apologetically.  
"Seriously? I couldn’t tell…” you rolled your eyes. “Come on, let’s switch places. I'll show you!" you got up and pointed him towards your spot on the sofa. You’d have to ask Sitara for a proper massage later.  
“Be gentle though… it’s my first time this way around as well.” Wrench joked and shrugged out of his vest while you climbed up on the backrest to have a better angle.  
Still annoyed, but willing to teach him, you placed your hands on his shoulders and traced the lines of his shoulder blades with your thumbs, hard enough to get through the outer layers of tissue, but, in opposition to him, soft enough not to leave bruises.  
"Wow... there's like a bunch of knots right here." you murmured, prodding at them with your thumbs a bit.  
"Oww!" he turned his head to look at you accusingly.  
"It’s supposed to hurt a bit."  
"But you made me stop when I hurt you!"  
"Yea, because you'd have crushed my collarbones if I hadn't stopped you."  
"But..."  
"Shut up and let me do this! I promise it will feel amazing in a few days." but until then it’s gonna hurt like a bitch, you added inwardly. Making him feel good actually made you feel a bit better as well.  
After a few minutes of kneading his shoulders and him complaining like a little girl, Kali decided that now was a good time to jump on his lap. She started kneading his tummy, almost mirroring your movements.  
"What's she doing?" Wrench asked, hands lifted up, careful not to touch her.  
"Huh?" you had been so absorbed in his shoulders, you hadn't even noticed the cat. "Oh, she does that because she likes you."  
"Cats are weird." he said but let his hands sink down so they rested on top of her.  
You grinned. Kali seemed to be working herself into his heart slowly but steadily.  
When you pushed into a particularly big knot, Wrench jerked. "Fuck this hurts. Am I supposed to feel this down to my toes?”  
"It’s a wonder you don't have headaches considering what your neck feels like. So yea, kinda natural you can feel it in odd places." you said, putting your fingers to the sides of his neck and stroking downwards.  
"What do headaches have to do with my neck?" he asked, seeming confused.  
"Umm... you can get headaches from overly tense shoulders," how could he not know this?  
"Are you kidding me?" he turned around towards you. "I've had headaches since like... 2012 or something... I thought they're part of being an adult... and you know, my… lifestyle..."  
"Are you being serious just now?" you said, pausing your ministrations.  
"Yea! I never knew!"  
"How can someone as smart as you not know something like that?" you asked, looking down at him.  
"I guess it never came up... Do you really think I’m smart though?"  
“Not when you’re asking questions like that.” you rolled your eyes.  
"Is that a thing people know?"  
"I’d say yes, but Sitara and I took a class back in college, so I’m probably not the best judge.”  
“You learned how to give massages? In college?” he asked, chuckling, “maybe I should have gone after all…”  
”Yea, we were rather doing it ourselves than going to a parlor. Much cheaper that way." you chuckled, thinking back of the good old times.  
"I thought people only went to a massage parlor for the happy ends anyways."  
"Oh I can give you a happy end, if you want... but I didn't learn that in class." you purred in his ear, kissing his neck from behind.  
“Mhmmmm... I'd like that very much." he leaned back towards you.  
“But I wanna work out those kinks first." you pushed him away.  
“Yea, I wanna work on your kinks as well.” he moved towards you again, suggestively.  
“Later…” you promised, not letting him distract you. You prodded his back some more, before setting into a rhythm, moving your thumbs in circles over his back, warming his muscles up. Once he had relaxed a bit, you started working into the bigger kinks with your thumbs.  
"Fucking shit!" he exclaimed, when you got to a particularly nasty one. Surprised, you stopped and pulled away. "This is the worst pain I've ever experienced! And I've been shot multiple times... and fell off buildings... and got hit by cars... and got beaten up... and that one time, a raven tried eating my liver."  
You slapped the back of his head playfully. "Stop making up shit. It can’t be that bad!" You pushed your elbow into the same spot and he whined again.  
"I'd really prefer getting shot to you doing that ever again."  
"Sorry." you murmured and kissed his temple. "But I've honestly never felt anyone with shoulders as tense as yours."  
"That’s because you never met someone as awesome and muscular as me, probably." he tried to joke, but bit off his own words off when you let your hands wander farther down towards his ribs.  
"Fuck this is so painful."  
"What are you two doing out here?" Sitara suddenly said behind you. You hadn’t even heard her come out of her room.  
"Come here! You gotta feel that!" you said to her, not wasting a second.  
A grin appeared on her face when she saw what you were doing. She enjoyed hurting people almost as much as you did.  
"Here, feel that one." you said and put her hand to the knot you had been working on.  
"Wow!" she said, her eyes getting bigger and bigger, the more she probed around on Wrench's back.  
"I'm fucking dying here in case anyone cares." Wrench complained, trying to escape.  
"Shhhhh" Sitara made and continued poking and prodding him in different places.  
You stepped away and let her work on him for a while.  
When his winces and whines got lower and farther apart, you went around the sofa to see his face. =.= was showing on the display.  
"Wrench?" you said.  
"Hmmm?" he lazily slurred.  
"Are you okay?"  
"I've never felt more okay in my life. I'm so relaxed right now... I can't even lift my arms."  
Kali had rolled up in his lap and his fingers lazily played through her fur.  
"Magic fingers, baby." Sitara said and lifted her hands.  
"Don't stop." Wrench moaned. "Fuck this feels so good."  
"I’ve never heard you said that to Y/N” Sitara teased. “Wanna take over?”  
"Nah, he's all yours! I warmed him up, you can finish him off." you chuckled, "but can you do me after? My shoulders are so so bad.”  
Wrench startled at your words. "Huh? Girl on girl action? Can I watch?"  
"Not everything is all about sex all the time, you know?" Sitara rolled her eyes in annoyance.  
"Yea, but I wanna watch so I can do her next time.... do it, I mean..." he chuckled, amused by his own joke.  
"Well, we're done here anyways" Sitara said and moved her hands down his back one final time.  
"Already? Aww man..." he sighed, but was too slackened to really complain. His body was all soft and relaxed, visibly, and he leaned back on the sofa, =.= on his mask once more. "So about that happy end..." he murmured, putting his legs on your lap.  
“Yea, you can start any minute.” you opened the zipper of your jeans extra slow, so he’d have to hear the noise.  
“I thought I’d be on the receiving end of that.” he laboriously lifted his head to look at you.  
“Come on! Me wanting a massage ending with you getting massaged by two gorgeous woman AND getting a happy end while I get zero massages hardly seems fair.”  
“Hmm… you’re right!” he admitted and without a warning, he practically jumped on top of you and shoved his hand down your pants.  
You gasped. That had been unexpected.  
“I’ll leave you two idiots to it.” Sitara said from behind you, evidently annoyed.  
“Sorry.” you tried untangling yourself from him, while he held on to you very hard.  
“Don’t stop on my account, I should have known when I introduced you. Your different kinds of crazy complement each other just too perfectly.”


	17. Tezcas again!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a broken fridge, pursuers and a fight between gang members and a hippie commune and a cat saves the day!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have two versions of the second part of this story.  
> The really really dark part is in the note at the end and I marked the spot where it derails with a * in the text.  
> I didn't edit the dark version so its far from perfect and it doesn't insert flawlessly since I changed a few parts in the main story, but I thought I'd share it with you nonetheless since it almost made me cry when I was writing it.

[I gotta go see my mum later wanna tag along?] a text from Wrench yanked you out of the boredom of another staff meeting at nudle HQ.  
[Sure! Can you pick me up after work? I'm dying here. x.x] you quickly typed back, leaning back in your chair so Sharon from marketing who was sitting next to you, as usual, wouldn't see your display. She seemed eager to make the meeting last as long as possible. Everyone's questions had been addressed long ago but she still kept coming up with new and more detailed ideas and idiotic questions.  
[sure! just let me know when]  
[hopefully before I die of boredom]  
[knock knock]  
[okay, Ill do this, because Im fucking bored... whos there?]  
[ivan]  
[ivan who?]  
[ivan to do something naughty with you]  
You snorted, making everyone look at you in confusion. "Sorry," you whispered, "I just... sorry. Please do continue." you motioned to Sharon.  
[dumbass! dont send me stuff like that when im in a meeting XD XD]  
[just wanted to make sure you survive <3]  
An hour later, you finally walked towards Wrench's car. He was driving a black Honda something these days and the blaring music from his speakers made you easily find him in the parking lot.  
"Are you seriously playing Alanis Morisette in public?" you shouted over the music when you opened the front passenger door.  
"Sure! Ironic is a classic!" he turned the volume down. "And I know you love it! You always hum it under your breath when you think no one can hear you."  
"I do?" you blushed.  
"You do! Don't worry, I think it's cute!"  
"Playing it in public doesn't fit your badass act though. I'm always telling my coworkers about my bad boy boyfriend. Now they'll never believe me!" You put on your seatbelt and he started the engine.  
"I'll play some grindcore next time I'll pick you up!" he joked.  
"Thank you." you bent over and kissed him on the small stripe of skin that wasn't covered by his mask. "So why are we going to see your mum anyways?"  
"Her fridge is broken... again... and she needs me to fix it... again." he seemed slightly annoyed but also somewhat amused. "I've fixed this fucking thing since I was 7. I honestly have no idea how it even still works. By now I must have replaced every single part at least once."  
"Why doesn't she just buy a new one?"  
"She doesn't want a new one as long as the old one is fixable."  
"But..."  
"Don't bother... I've had that discussion with her a million times. She doesn't want a new one and... what are you doing?" The car swerved a bit, as he turned to look at you.  
"Changing clothes. I hate this outfit!" you replied, unbuttoning the last button on your blouse before pulling it off, which left you sitting in your bra.  
"You can't do that without giving me a warning first! Jeez!"  
"Sorry" you chuckled, pulling a black tank top over your head. "I thought you were used to seeing me in my underwear by now."  
"Getting used to that would be like getting used to seeing the Mona Lisa. You simply don't."  
"Umm.... that was a compliment, right?"  
"Very much so!" he put his hand on your leg and moved his fingers upwards. *.* lighting up on his mask, as he stared at you.  
"Wrench... the road!" you turned his head forward so he'd watch the traffic.  
"The road isn't half as beautiful as you."  
"Maybe, but not dying in traffic seems kinda nice too, don't you think?"  
He sighed in defeat but switched his attention back to the road again.  
Grinning, you put your hand on his thigh. "Compromise?" you asked.  
<3.<3 appeared on his display as he looked down on your hand for only a second, sighing in contentment. "Alright."

By the time you reached his mum's house you had managed to change into more comfortable pants as well without Wrench driving you off the road. Office clothes were a necessary evil on the few days you actually had to go there but that didn't mean you had to suffer through wearing them all day long. Tank top and jeans shorts were much more you than silk blouses and black slacks.  
"Shit." Wrench exclaimed when you got out of the car.  
"Huh?"  
"Get into the house... and quick." he ordered.  
"What is it?"  
"Fucking Tezcas again!" he exclaimed, pointing up the dirt road, where another of their signature low rider cars was slowly rolling towards you.  
"What the... " you started as he ushered you towards the entrance where his mother was waiting.  
"Hey mum... I brought trouble. I'm sorry." Wrench said before she could open her mouth. He pushed both you and his mother through the doorway and closed the door behind himself.  
"Who are they?" Harmony asked, confused.  
"Some people I pissed off..." he murmured distractedly.  
"Oh I'm sure we can talk it out with them." she said, of course wanting to solve the conflict peacefully.  
"Mum don't even try." He turned around and opened the small window in the door to look outside.  
"What are we going to do?" you asked, putting your hands on his shoulders and looking out with him. The car was halfway down the road and you could make out two sourly looking guys in the front seat.  
"Whatever happened to your arm?" Harmony suddenly exclaimed.  
Your putting your hands on Wrench’s shoulders had rucked up his sleeves a bit and the scar from the gunshot wound was peeking out. It had scabbed over but was still clearly visible on his pale skin.  
"They tried to shoot me." Wrench said but brushed her off when she tried to examine the wound. "Don't worry, I'm fine."  
"Yes, you are, but they won’t be much longer." her gaze, usually soft and full of love hardened and she pushed you to the side to look outside as well. "I'll show them to hurt my precious boy!"  
Once she had grasped the situation and made up her mind, she hurried into the house. You heard her bellow something to the other women and a minute later all of them came outside, single file. Harmony was armed with a shotgun.  
Raven, fully dressed this time, sat down in the gazebo. She motioned for you to sit with her and proceeded to light up her pipe. She seemed completely unfazed by the impeding battle.  
Sequoia held the kids’ hands in hers and walked to the back side of the house with them, probably to keep them save somewhere.  
"Relax. This isn't the first time something like this happens." Raven said and held the pipe out for you. "We've been growing Marihuana here for years. There's always been people who wanted to hurt us for one reason or another. They know how to deal with them." she made a vague gesture towards the two women and Wrench, seeming completely at ease.  
Wrench, Harmony and Summer were climbing up on two wooden crates that had been strategically placed along the wall. One to the left of the door, almost touching the house's wall and one to the right of it. Harmony and Summer were on the left one, Wrench on the right. They could look out over the wall but take cover as well if anyone tried to shoot back.  
The whole situation felt absolutely surreal to you.   
There were people who'd kill you if given the chance and this completely chill, high woman gave exactly zero fucks. How had you gotten mixed up with a crowd like that?  
You didn't take the offered pipe. You were too tense. Smoking now wouldn't calm you down. It would make your anxiety levels rise to infinity and beyond.  
Raven shrugged and leaned back in her chair when you didn't take the pipe. "We usually try working things out peacefully. I don't know what made Harmony so mad she's resorting to violence so quickly."  
"Wrench got hurt." you said courtly, gaze locked at him as he was looking out over the wall.  
"Ah... that explains that." Raven said. She still didn't seem bothered though.  
You heard a car stop and an engine being shut off outside the wall. "Give us the masked freak and no one gets hurt!" someone shouted.  
That was it, you couldn't stay seated any longer. Getting up from your chair, you speed walked the short distance towards Wrench and climbed on the crate next to him, staying low, so you could see over the wall. Gently you placed your hand on the small of his back. No matter what would happen, you were here for him.  
"It's too late for that!" Harmony shouted. "You hurt my boy. That was your first mistake."  
"Yea? What’s the second one, puta?" the voice from outside the wall shouted.  
"Coming here!" Without wasting another second, she shot a blast at the leader of the would-be attackers and hit him straight in the chest. His eyes went wide before he fell over like a log.  
You looked at Harmony disbelievingly. So did Summer.  
The other three people outside were as shocked as you. Harmony shot another blast but only hit the car this time. She took cover behind the wall to reload.  
"What are you doing?" Summer said to her. "We don't kill!"  
"I don't care about your no-kill-policy! Not when my boy is hurt!" Harmony said. She sat down on the crate and leaned against the wall as tears started falling.  
Wrench looked at his mother and *.* turned to T.T on his mask upon seeing her cry. "Fucking assholes." he murmured, obviously mad about his gunless state.  
He startled when Summer suddenly appeared outside the wall. "What are you doing?" he shouted.  
"Maybe I can still save him!" she said, bending over the bloody body on the ground.   
"What the fuck?" you mouthed. It was very obvious, there was no saving him. There was a hole the size of your fist in his chest.  
The other three gang members saw the open door and took their chance. Running inside, they went straight for Wrench. They didn’t even look twice at Summer and their dead friend.  
When Summer realized her mistake, she quickly got up from the ground and ran inside again. She grabbed the Shotgun from Harmony, turned it around and hit one of the guys over the head with the handle. He was knocked out cold and fell to the ground.  
"Stay here." Wrench said to you before jumping down to join in the fight. You jumped from the crate and tried hiding behind it. A grin appeared on your face when you found a heap of small decorative pumpkins on the ground next to you.  
Taking one in your hand, about the size of your fist, you aimed and hit the bigger of the two men smack in the face. His head was violently turned to the side from the force and he looked around, seemingly confused.  
When you bent down for another pumpkin, you saw something move in the corner of your eye. A greyish, shaggy looking cat was running on top of the stone wall, tail held high.  
It stopped for a second before jumping on the head of the third intruder with a violent yowl. Clawing and biting it held on to the man with its claws, effectively stopping him from doing any damage. He frantically tried getting the cat off but the more he slapped at it, the more the claws buried into his skin. His screams of pain almost made you pity him. Almost.  
Wrench let the cat fight the other one and ran towards the pumpkined guy to tackle him full force. His enemy was much bigger than Wrench, but he was still a bit disoriented and went down on the ground on impact. * Not giving him any time to recover, Wrench knocked him out with a right hook and got up, wiping his bloody knuckles on his jeans.

Raven had gotten up as well. She walked towards the battle slowly, with a frying pan in her hand. Where she had gotten it remained a mystery to you.  
“Ray.” she said to the cat, which immediately stopped and let go of his victim. The guy, still shocked, moved around aimlessly. His face was covered in bloody gashes, some deeper than others and you wondered if the cat had scratched his eyes out. When he wiped away the blood and looked at you, madness filling his gaze, you had your answer. It hadn't.  
Raven slammed the frying pan to the back of his head while he was still focused on you and he went down like his friends.

The cat, Ray, slowly limped towards Harmony and jumped into her lap, where he immediately started cleaning himself. Now that he was sitting still, you saw that a piece of his tail was missing. He looked ancient, but was obviously still going strong.  
Wrench followed your gaze and a pained grin appeared on his face. He had taken off his mask after knocking out the last guy.  
Harmony was petting the cat absently. She looked done with the world.  
Wrench sat down next to her and Ray hissed at him before jumping off of Harmony's lap and vanishing to where he had come from.  
Summer joined the two of them and sat down on Harmony's other side. Both of them were softly talking to her, trying their best to console her.  
"Can you give me a hand here?" Raven broke the silence that had settled over everything. She was holding on to the boot of one of the knocked out guys and tried pulling him towards the exit. "We don't want them in here when they wake up."  
You nodded and helped her pull the first of the three guys out through the doorway.  
The chickens had started pecking on the body of the guy outside, the noises of it made you gag.  
"Shoo!" Raven shouted and the chickens scattered. "We'll put him in the compost... the pumpkins will be huge next year!" she said and a grin appeared on her face at the thought. Grabbing his leg, she motioned for you to help her.  
You made a mental note not to accept any produce from them ever again as you grabbed the guy's second leg. No time like the present to try new things, you thought, when you realized you had never touched a dead body before.  
  
When you got to the compost heap and the huge pumpkin plant growing on top of it, you wondered what or who had fertilized the plant this year but quickly decided you really didn't want to know.  
"I'll bury him later." Raven said as if she buried bodies every day. The compost heap was huge and smelled earthy and of rotten vegetables and weed. The smell almost overpowered the irony tang of blood the dead body seemed to give off.

After you had pulled the remaining two unconscious men out through the doorway, you went back behind the wall and Raven locked up.  
The other three had vanished and you heard Wrench curse over something from inside the house.  
Raven sat down in the gazebo again, her job sufficiently done for now, and you walked into the house to see what Wrench was so mad about.  
The sound of his voice directed you through the cool interior. Old, almost antique furniture was placed along the walls in the hallway. An interior designer would probably get a stroke from the uncoordinated way everything was arranged, but it felt comfy and homey nonetheless.  
Wrench was in the kitchen. It looked like it was straight out of the 1950's as far as you could tell. He had wrestled the fridge to the ground, the door was screwed off its hinges and leaned against the wall, next to him.  
"Hey, are you okay?" you murmured. How he could think straight enough to fix stuff right now was beyond you. Your hands were still shaking.   
"Yea... I just hate this thing! I mean... look at this!" you looked but couldn't make out what he wanted to show you, so you just nodded and made sympathetic noises.  
"Are you okay though?" he said, getting up and taking your hand.  
"Don't worry... I'm slowly getting used to this new, violent lifestyle..." you murmured.  
"Sorry... its my fault..."   
"Don't worry... I'd be bored otherwise."  
"Thanks for cleaning up outside." he hugged you and gave you a kiss on the cheek before going back to his tinkering. "I'll be done in a few minutes." he said.  
You nodded and went back outside again. Everything felt oddly quiet after the noise of the battle, even though it had only taken a few minutes.  
"They left." Raven said from her spot, pointing towards the outer wall. Of course, she was smoking again. How she got anything done, being constantly high was a mystery to you.  
You sat down next to her and closed your eyes in exhaustion. Fighting bad guys was more draining than one might think.  
  
When Wrench came out the door a few minutes later, Summer and Harmony came out with him to say their goodbyes.  
"Where's Sequoia?" you asked, hugging each of them goodbye.  
"She's mad at us for fighting. Don't worry about her. She'll refuse to sleep with us for a few days and stay with the kids instead, but she'll come back eventually, she always does." Summer explained with a loving smile on her face.  
"We'll keep an eye out for you, but if those guys come back, give me a call, mum!"  
"We will." Harmony and Summer said in unison.  
Wrench rolled his eyes and took your hand, leading you back towards your car. You took care not to look at the ground, where the guy had bled out, but couldn't help noticing the chickens that were still scratching and pecking at the bloody earth. Quickly you hurried to the car, noticing, but not really caring about the scratch that went all around it. Wrench would probably ditch the car in a few days anyways.

“I can’t believe Old Ray is still alive.” Wrench murmured after driving in silence for a few minutes. “He must be like 25 by now…”  
“He didn’t seem to like you very much.”  
“Yea… well… the piece of his tail that’s missing… I might or might not have something to do with that.” he scratched the back of his head.  
You turned to stare at him with wide eyes. “What did you do to him?”  
“Don’t judge me! He started it!”  
“Yea, of course… when in doubt, blame the cat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Raven had gotten up. She walked towards the battle slowly with a frying pan in her hand.  
> “Ray.” she said to the cat, who immediately stopped and let go of his victim. The guy, still dazed, looked around in confusion. His face was covered in gashes, some deeper than others and you wondered for a second if the cat had scratched his eyes out, before he wiped away the blood and looked at you, madness in his gaze.  
> Before he could start towards you though, Raven slammed the frying pan to the back of his head and he went down like his friends.  
> Wrench was still pounding the last guys face, and you weren’t sure if anyone could survive his bony fists for so long. There simply was too much blood.  
> “Hey… I think it’s enough.” you softly said to Wrench, gently touching him by the shoulder. His shirt was clammy with sweat and probably blood, but you refused to acknowledge that thought.  
> Wrench startled at your touch. He looked around in confusion, before slowly getting up.  
> “They are all knocked out.” or dead, you inwardly added, taking one last look at the bloody mess on the ground.  
> Harmony was still sitting at her crate and had buried her face in her hands. Summer stood next to her, trying to calm her down.  
> “Mum?” Wrench said, taking off his mask, as he walked towards her. “Are you okay?”  
> She looked at him and smiled, but shook her head.  
> “I’m sorry.” he said, letting his shoulders hang limply. “I should have made sure no one was following us.”  
> “It’s okay, love. Don’t worry on my behalf.”  
> Harmony leaned heavily on Wrench’s shoulder but seemed to be getting herself back under control. Raven had sat back down in her chair and was smoking again. You joined her, this time taking the pipe when she offered.  
> This afternoon had been too messed up to stay sober.  
> You watched the others pull the passed out gang members out through the doorway. The second dead body was pulled inside and the chickens made quick work of what was left on the ground of him.  
> Raven told you that the pumpkins would grow huge next year.  
> You gave the overflowing pumpkinpatch a sideways glance and wondered for a second what or who had fertilized the plants this year.  
> Quickly, you took the pipe from her once more, not wanting to think about anything anymore. Those past few weeks, since the Tezcas had started following Wrench had been a lot.  
> The others didn't seem to be as bothered by it. They were probably used to stuff like that happening, but your life had been much quieter and calmer before you had moved to San Francisco. Was this really the way you wanted your life to be in the future? Because, and of that you were sure, with Wrench you'd never have the white picketfence and the 2.4 kids.  
> You were deep in thought, when Wrench suddenly wrapped himself around you from behind.  
> "What are you thinking about?" he asked and kissed your cheek.  
> "The future." you replied courtly, shrugging him off.  
> "Are you alright?" he said, concern showing on his face.  
> "I don't know." 
> 
> A car-door was slammed shut outside the wall and a motor started. Wrench went to the wall and stood up on tiptoes, so he could look outside.  
> "They're driving off." he said.  
> How could he be so unfazed by everything? So many people had died by his hands in the last few weeks.  
> "Can we go home?" you asked, when he came back to you.  
> "Sure... I'll fix the fridge another time. Come here." he took your hand and pulled you from your chair straight into his arms. He had washed his hands, but there were still splatters of blood on his throat, and probably all over his clothes too. You pushed him away again.  
> "You got something there." you said and pointed at his Anarchist tattoo.  
> He put his hand to his throat and it came away smeared with blood. "Gimme a sec." he said, before running off.  
> Harmony chose that moment to walk over to you. "Don't blame him for this." she said, motioning around. "He cares about you... a lot! And I see you care about him also. Don't let that beautiful thing you have be tainted by... life."  
> You looked at her and felt tears fill your eyes. "I love him... but stuff like this..." you couldn't finish your sentence, but it wasn't necessary anyways. Harmony understood.  
> "Just know that he will never let you get hurt. Think of that before you do anything rash, yes?"  
> You nodded and let her pull you into a hug.


	18. Separation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sitara and you make up after drifting apart, Wrench is being a complete and utter jerk. Drama ensues!

"Dear Sitara. I know I've been a shitty friend lately. Thank you for not kicking my ass. Please accept this voucher as an apology. Let's get prettied up and drunk. Just the two of us, fuck the guys! Love, Y/N"  
You folded the neatly calligraphied paper in half and put the voucher for a day at the fanciest spa in town in the middle of it. It hat cost you an arm and a leg but your best friend was absolutely worth it. Wrapping a pretty pink satin band around it, you stuck the paper to a box of fancy chocolates and placed a kiss on it, for good measure.  
Sitara was gone for the day. She hadn't wanted to have breakfast with you today or the day before and you felt shitty about the way you had been treating her lately.  
Padding into her room, you put the present onto her bed, hoping she'd accept your apology. Having her mad at you felt awful, even though you knew you deserved it.  
"What are you doing in my room?" Sitara suddenly said from behind you. She didn’t sound amused.  
"Huh? Why are you home? I… I wanted to give you this," you quickly took the little parcel from the bed again and handed it to her.  
She took the gift and looked at it for a moment. "I forgot my jacket. I thought you'd be gone by now."  
"I was about to leave. In fact, I still gotta go. Let me know when you open it." you motioned to the gift and walked past her, resisting the urge to give her a hug. She'd probably punch you if you tried.

 

You had just finished lacing your shoes, when she came out of her room.  
"Apology accepted," she said and bit down on a piece of chocolate. "Let’s go soon! I could really use some pampering."  
"I'll call them later and make an appointment." You stiffly grabbed your jacket from the hook and turned to leave.  
"Thank you! I don't like being mad at you!" Sitara said and hugged you from behind.  
"I don't like having you mad at me either."

 

Later that same week, you arrived at the spa late in the morning. You were greeted with a glass of champagne each and a nice Asian woman took your jackets. Soft music was playing from invisible speakers somewhere in the ceiling and the smell of something flowery played around your nostrils. Everything was made to look and feel calm and soothing.  
"So who's the birthday girl?" the receptionist asked with a professional fake smile on her face.  
"She is." you quickly said, before Sitara could spoil your lie.  
“Well then, you’re in for a special treat today.” the woman said and led the way to the treatment room.  
“We’ll start you ladies off with a hand and foot treatment, followed by a facial and we’ll finish with a nice massage.“ the cosmetologist explained as she showed you to your chairs. “And since it’s your birthday, you’ll get bottomless champagne all day long.”  
A grin appeared on Sitara’s face. “This is the best birthday present ever.” she exclaimed.

 

Four hours later, you emerged from the spa completely relaxed and slightly drunk. Bottomless champagne would do that to anyone.  
It had started to rain while you were inside and you ordered an uber to take you home.  
Sitting down in the reception area you had one more glass of champagne while waiting.  
"So yea, this is how I got the scar on my… down under." you finished your an anecdote with a chuckle when Sitara suddenly tensed up.  
"What is it?" you asked.  
"Umm... I'm not sure you want to know." your gaze followed hers, out the window, to the other side of the street.  
"Is that Wrench?" you asked, feeling your heart skip a beat. You didn’t need an answer. Of course it was him. He was walking with a tall, burly guy under a huge black umbrella, holding on to the other guy’s arm in quite an intimate way. Too intimate for your liking. "Who is that dude?"  
"You wanna go out there and confront him?" Sitara said, grabbing your wrist. "We can beat him up if you want. I'll hold him for you."  
"Which one should we punch? Wrench or the other one?" you asked. You didn't quite know how you felt, but when you saw the two of them stop at a red traffic light at the corner of the street and Wrench put his head on the other guys shoulder, you felt something inside of you break. Having meaningless sex with someone was one thing but this seemed much more intimate than that.  
The light turned green and the two of them continued walking, out of your view. You looked after them and then down on your hands. Had this really just happened? Who was the guy? Why was Wrench acting all lovey-dovey towards him?  
"Our uber is here." Sitara said and pulled you out of your thoughts. "Let's go home and not make any rash decisions, okay?" she put her arm around your shoulders. “I bet there’s an explanation to this.”  
You nodded and let her lead you to the car.

You didn't say much during the ride and went straight to your room when you got home. What had he been doing with that man? Who was he? Maybe it was an old friend? Or his long lost brother? The way they had touched, hadn't seemed very brotherly though.  
[what are you doing? wanna come over?] you finally texted him, just to have something to do.  
He didn’t reply. You didn't want to think about what he was doing that made him unable to get to his phone.  
"Knock knock." Sitara suddenly appeared in the doorway. "I made you cocoa... with lots of rum." she said, coming in with a hot, steaming cup. Sitting down on your bed next to you, she put her arm around your shoulders.  
You sighed. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up.”

Wrench didn't text you back all day. You tried your best not to make any assumptions about him and enjoy your day with Sitara. She was your best friend after all and you vowed to be a better friend to her in the future as well. Ovaries before Brovaries! Sistas before Mistas! Uteruses before Duderuses and all! 

***

You hadn't slept much all night long and were on your third cup of coffee the next morning when Wrench showed up unannounced, all cheerful and happy. Sitara practically jumped from her chair, ready to punch him in the throat if necessary.  
"You!" she pointed her finger at him accusingly.  
"Hey," you said and looked up at him tiredly. You didn't really want to talk to him or think about him, but yet here he was.  
"What's wrong?" he said and sat down next to you, putting his hand on your thigh.  
"Don't you dare touch her!" Sitara said and pushed him away from you.  
"What the fuck?" he said and gestured at her angrily. \\./ appearing on his mask.  
"Don't act all innocent! We saw you yesterday! With that guy!" she accused, not impressed by the way he acted.  
"Oh..." >.<  
"That's all you gotta say?" Sitara said.  
"Well..."  
"No, nothing is well!" she was so mad, her face was contorted with rage.  
"Sitara... chill," you said, trying not to let the situation get out of control.  
"I..." Wrench started, but didn't continue.  
"Who was the guy?" you asked. "Please tell me he's your brother or something."  
Wrench swallowed, his Adams apple moving visibly. "I'm sorry."  
"I'm sorry?" Sitara repeated. "That’s all?"  
"Wrench... is he your boyfriend? Am I your sidepeace? Or is he?"  
"He isn't my boyfriend... he's just someone I've known for a while and whom I occasionally hang out with."  
"Occasionally? Meaning what? Once a week? Once a month? No wait, I don’t want to know… just tell me why!" you said, working hard to not let the hurt taint your voice.  
"Because... I... fuck, this is hard!"  
"Yea, yea, poor you, we know! Now fucking talk!" Sitara interrupted his stammering with a slap on the back of his head.  
He turned and looked at her before slowly continuing. "Because sometimes I need to feel small and protected, like the protectee, not the protector."  
You blinked at him and shook your head, confused. "So you're saying I'm not strong enough for you?" You felt attacked.  
"No... it’s just... damn..." he moved his hands through his hair in exasperation.  
"Come on, tell me."  
"It’s simply that those past few weeks, I feel like I've done most of the protecting in our relationship. I have to be strong for you all the time."  
"Are you fucking serious? Did you really just fucking say that? If I remember right, you were the one who brought this whole mess upon us by fucking up that cocaine and not covering your traces properly... and correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't I the one who fucking got you out of there after you got shot? And helped you get away when we were cornered on that gas station and hit that guy at in the face with a fucking pumpkin at your mums place so you could knock him out and pulled you back when you were getting bad again? To me it feels like I'm using teeth and claws to fucking protect you, same as you do for me, but again, correct me if I'm wrong! Please do." you screamed at him, getting louder with every word.  
He seemed to think about this and didn't say anything for a while.  
Sitara was angrily cleaning up the breakfast table, almost breaking the plates and cups as she slammed them into the dishwasher and for a moment the clanking was the only sound in the room. Kali was anxiously watching the situation from her safe spot on top of the fridge.  
"You know, I don't give a shit if you fuck anyone or let anyone fuck you for that matter... if it's nothing but sex, please go for it! I don't care! But with this dude yesterday... this didn't look like a purely physical thing to me. And I... I really can't have that." Tears of anger and sadness had formed in your eyes as you spoke and your voice broke at the last sentence.  
"I'm sorry!" Wrench said and tried to get closer to comfort you.  
"Don't you dare touch her!" Sitara slapped him on the chest with a spatula she had been putting away and moved in between the two of you, hugging you with one arm. “Most girls would have kicked your ass after Paul... but no, you got a second chance... only to fuck it up even worse!" Sitara shouted at him holding your head to her chest. "Get out! I can't stand to look at you right now!" she shouted and pointed to the door with the spatula. "Seriously! Get out before I forget myself."  
He started moving towards the doorway but stopped and turned back before leaving. "C....can I call you later?"  
"I don't know what difference that would make..." you whispered.

He called you late that evening. You had spent most of the day in bed, with either Sitara or the cats or all of them together trying to comfort you.  
By the time it got dark outside you were drunk and high and didn’t really feel yourself anymore. You considered that a victory. Your phone was somewhere under the covers and it took you a while to find it when it rang. When you saw it was Wrench calling, you took a deep breath before answering.  
“Yes?” you said, trying to sound nonchalant.  
“Are you okay?” Wrench said. He wasn’t wearing his mask and you could hear his real voice. He sounded hoarse. From crying probably… or from screaming in pleasure, the mean voice in the back of your head offered.  
“What kind of a question is that?”  
“Sorry… just wondering…”  
“I’m not okay. In fact, I’m so not okay, I decided to move back to my mum’s house for a while. Don’t try to contact me. And also don’t you dare cyberstalk me! Understood?” you ordered.  
“Y-yes.” he said slowly. “Do you… do you hate me?”  
“Wrench honestly, I don’t know what I feel. And I really don’t want to think about it right now.”  
He said nothing for so long you thought you had been disconnected.  
“Wrench?”  
“Yea… sorry. I’m really fucking sorry. Please don’t hate me. I love you.”  
You didn’t say anything back and hung up before the tears started falling.

***

A few days later, you were back at your mother’s house, in your old childhood bedroom. Your mum had converted it to a craft room, and you had to sleep on the little pull out sofa in the corner. You didn’t care. The ache in your heart drowned out everything else. Why did he have to do something like that? Not protective enough… what kind of a reason for cheating was that? Guys were supposed to be the protector, not the protectee… and you didn’t really play into that role anyways, so what was his problem?  
Your mother hadn’t been exactly thrilled to have you back. There had never been much love lost between the two of you and she was used to living alone. Your father had died when you had barely been 13 and your younger sister only came to visit her occasionally, even though she didn’t live too far away.  
Thinking back to your childhood, everything had been so perfect. Your parents had loved each other dearly. They had lived the dream. The house with the white picket fence, 2 kids, a dog… and then your dad had just suddenly fallen down one day and never gotten back up. A blood clot had formed in his brain for whatever reason and killed him. From then on, everything went to shit. Money had gotten tight and tighter and your mother had had to sell the big, beautiful house and you had moved into the small cottage. There was always enough to eat for everyone, but you hadn’t been able to afford any kind of luxury. You, being the older sister, had gotten a part time job to keep the family afloat and even when you had gone off to college, you had tried sending your mum and sister money.  
None of that mattered now though. Your mum was mad for not calling her more often and never coming to visit. Your argument that she might as well call you or come to see your new place wasn't valid obviously. Fighting with her was all you did. It kept your mind away from Wrench but didn’t do much to make you feel better. And by night, all the thoughts came crawling back. You missed him terribly. You missed him so much, even looking at pictures of him made you weep.  
Sitara kept you updated on the goings-on of everyone, but left out anything that concerned Wrench. You didn’t want to ask about him, even though you wanted to know he was okay. You hated him for hurting you, but you didn’t wish him any ill. He hadn’t cheated on you to hurt you, you knew that.

 “Do you know when you’ll come back?” Sitara asked when you talked on the phone one evening, a few weeks later. Fall was slowly coming and the leaves were turning brown and falling off the trees. You watched them, feeling as if they somehow were a metaphor for your love.  
“I don’t know.” you answered after contemplating for a while. “I gotta come back soon though. My boss called me the other day.”  
“Don’t think about your boss. You can always find another job… and you know we can keep you afloat, moneywise. But staying with your mum… She’s such a toxic person. I want you to get well again. You still seem so down. And it has been three weeks. I miss you!”  
“I miss you too” you said. “But…”  
“Don’t worry about Wrench. He hasn’t been around lately. I mean… he talks to Marcus but he never comes to the HQ anymore. I haven’t seen him since you left.”  
“Is he okay though?”  
Sitara hesitated before answering. “He doesn’t seem to be dealing too well…” she finally admitted.  
“What’s he doing?”  
“Well… He’s been doing a lot of the jobs no one wanted to do before because they were too dangerous… which is amazing for dedsec, but really... it’s only a matter of time till he gets hurt.” she seemed worried. Even though she was mad at him, probably more so than you, Wrench was her friend too. “And he’s doing a lot of drugs.”  
You sighed. That’s what you’d been scared to hear all along. He wasn’t doing okay… and with his history of mental illness, you were really starting to worry about him.  
“I’ll check the flight schedules and let you know when I’ll be back, okay?”  
“Okay, thank you. I really miss you.”  
“I miss you too! Bye.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I posted this and the next chapter separately, but really, they are one long chapter, I just thought it'd be easier to keep track of everything if I post it in 2 parts...


	19. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you decide your love is stronger than a bit of stupidity and come back to save your man.

Three days later, after a huge shouting match between you and your mother, you left her house, hopefully for the last time in a long long time. She had demanded you pay rent for the time you had stayed with her and for the food you had eaten and for the water and electricity you had used. After writing her a huge check without blinking an eye, she had come up with more and more stuff she’d wanted you to pay for, until you had finally told her to fuck off and left. It was way too early to go to the airport, but you’d rather wait there for hours, with a bunch of strangers than stay with her for another minute.  
The flight was late and you were sitting next to a family with a screaming baby the whole three hours. By the time you landed, you were ready to kill someone.  
Sitara had volunteered to pick you up and she was waiting for you at the arrivals hall with a molten iced latte in her hand.  
“Oh my god I hate life and airports and people so fucking much! Can we go home?” you hugged her and took the coffee from her.  
“Hey, nice to see you too.” she said, holding on to you a second longer.  
“Sorry… I’m just so done with everyone and everything. And I’m so fucking glad to be back here!” You hugged her with once more with one arm as you were walking towards the exit and kissed her temple. “Thanks for picking me up.”  
“Thanks for coming back! Being the only girl in our group sucks!”  
By the time you got into the car, you were starting to feel a little better about everything and could face asking the real questions. “So… How’s Wrench?”  
“Bad, I guess… No one, not even Marcus, has heard from him in a few days. Josh has found him on GPS, so we know where he is. He just avoids each of us, for…. reasons.” she shrugged, as she steered the car out of the parking garage.  
“Do you think he wants to see me?” you asked.  
“Probably. Or else he’d have made sure we didn’t find him. More important though. Do YOU want to see HIM?” she asked.  
You had had hours to think about this exact question and didn't hesitate. “Yes, I miss him.”  
“You sure? Because you know, he’ll never stop being a dumbass.”  
“I know, but I’m kinda into dumbassery.”  
“I feared you’d say that.”

Arriving back home, because this was where your home was now, was the greatest feeling in the world. Boy and Kali both rubbed against your legs and wouldn’t let you take a step farther into the flat. “And people say cats don’t care about their humans.” Sitara said, as you picked up Boy. He pressed his nose to yours and showered your face with kitty kisses. Kali ran around excitedly and meowed, probably in joy, because her second favorite human was back.  
“I missed you too,” you said to them and sat down on the sofa with Boy. Kali joined you and you ended up in a purring, soft heap of joy.  
Sitara, standing next to the sofa snapped a quick pic of you. “I’ll have this framed and send it to your mum as a Christmas present, to show her what love looks like.” she said. You had of course told her about your mother’s antics and she had been outraged to say the least.  
After the cats were finally satisfied and got bored of cuddling, you took a quick shower, observed by both the cats sitting on the bathroom floor, probably to make sure you wouldn’t leave again.  
  
Sitara was sitting at her desk, drawing, as you came out of the bathroom, hair still wet. “Are Marcus and Josh in the HQ? I want to tell them I’m back… and I need their help finding Wrench.”  
“Josh will probably be there. I don’t know about Marcus though. You know how he can never be in one place for long.”  
You got dressed, in Wrench’s second favorite underwear and donned a flowery dress and your leather jacket over it, before grabbing your car keys and putting on your shoes.  
Boy meowed at you accusingly for leaving again so soon. “Don’t worry, I won’t be gone for long.” you promised and gave him a quick scratch behind the ears.  
“Call me if you need help or anything!” Sitara said, watching you put on your shoes.   
“I will… bye!”

A big smile spread on your face, when you stopped in front of Gary’s Games&Glory. You had really missed the place.  
You entered the by now familiar code and grimaced at the also familiar scent of the dedsec HQ. Very male, mixed with the aroma of old pizza boxes and molten plastic.  
“Honey I’m home!” you shouted and Marcus’ head appeared at the bottom end of the stairs.  
“Hey! You’re back!” he held out his arms and you hurried down the last few stairs and hugged him.  
“Back to safe our princess…” you murmured against his chest.  
“And good thing too! I think you’re the only one who he’ll want to be saved by.”  
“Yea, Sitara suggested as much.” You let go of him to find Josh waving at you from his desk. “Hey Josh!”  
“Hello! We missed you,” he said. And from him, you knew it was genuine.  
“I brought you something,” you said and walked towards him with a 6-Pack of Red Bull, carefully placing your hand on his shoulder. “Can you help me find Wrench?” You took one of the cans out of the cardboard sleeve and put it on his desk. The rest went straight into the fridge.  
“Sure. I actually know where he is. He hasn’t moved much since last night.”  
A few mouse clicks brought up a map of the city with a blinking red dot at the very north edge of town.  
“What’s there?” you asked. You had never been up there.  
“Just warehouses. I can’t find him on camera, but there aren’t any inside the warehouses, so….”  
“Well… I’ll go there then.” you said and resisted the urge to slap Josh’s back. “Thank you,” you said instead. “Can you let me know if he moves?”  
Josh nodded.  
“You want me to go with you?” Marcus said. He was obviously worried about Wrench too.  
“You can drive. But can you wait in the car once we’re there?”  
“Yea… will be a new experience to be the backup for once.”  
You walked up the stairs together and quickly made it to Marcus’ car.  
  
The ride was filled with small talk and stories about what dedsec had achieved while you were gone.  
“But he didn’t get hurt when he got in there? Wow! This is fucking crazy,” you said, when Marcus told you about Wrench’s heroics.  
“I think he was on so much cocaine, he didn’t even care about getting hurt. He looked awful last time I saw him, so don’t be alarmed.”  
“Fuck," you whispered. All this was probably your fault.  
“Don’t worry. He has snapped back from worse. He’s tough.”  
You sighed. “Yea, that’s true…”

“We’re here,” Marcus announced a few minutes later.  
As Josh had said, there was nothing but a few abandoned looking warehouses. The amount of parked cars was kinda suspicious though, for a group of empty warehouses especially. The broken windows were dark but you could hear subdued bass from somewhere inside.  
“Okay, fuck it. Can you come with? This seems kinda shady,” you said to Marcus when you were half out of the car.  
“Sure.” Without wasting a second, he got out as well and together you walked to the warehouse the music seemed to be coming from.   
You walked through a small metal door on the side closest to you. The music got a bit louder. You were on the right track.  
Inside, the space was mostly empty except for a few shipping containers and wooden crates. You split up and walked around, looking for some sort of door to find the source of the music. It was quiet, except for your and Marcus’ steps on the concrete floor and the subdued bass.  
“I think I found something!” Marcus suddenly shouted from his corner. “It’s locked though.”  
You quickly hurried towards him and inspected the door he was standing in front. There was a doorknob, but you couldn’t turn it. The music was slightly louder here and it smelled slightly like weed. Marcus helplessly stared at the old fashioned door as if he could unlock it with sheer willpower alone.   
“Can’t you pick locks?” you asked.   
“Only electronic ones,” he admitted with a shrug.  
“Nerds,” you dished and rummaged through your purse for a hairpin. “It’s been a while… let’s see if I can still do this.”  
It took you a few tries but you finally managed and the door snapped open. “Ha! Once again Y/N saves the day!” you exclaimed.  
“You do realize that is exactly what Wrench would say in this situation, do you?” Marcus murmured but patted you on the back nonetheless.  
“Yea… I know. It’s almost scary how alike we think. You should see us in bed…” you murmured, stopping when you pulled open the door. There was a handle on the inside. People would be able to get out, but not in. A narrow staircase led downwards and you looked at Marcus for reassurance.   
He shrugged and you started walking. The music was definitely coming from downstairs.  
The smell of weed was almost overpowering, as was the rave music. The door must be soundproof or something. You startled, as it fell closed behind you with a heavy thump.  
“Alright, let’s do this,” you said and continued downwards, wishing for better shoes than your converse. There were pieces of broken glass bottles and a few used needles strewn in between. You weren’t much of a believer, but in this moment you prayed to anyone who’d listen that Wrench would be alright.  
The music got louder and louder the farther down you went. By now you must be at least two stories underground. You could barely hear yourself think anymore over the base.  
And then the stairs ended. You were in a small square room with a wardrobe area on one side and a black swinging door on the other. You could see people dancing through the round glass panes, one of which was broken despite being reinforced with a grid of wire.  
You pushed the door open and one or two people turned around to look at you. The rest of them didn’t give a shit about the newcomers and kept on dancing. The music was good and you’d have loved to stay if you weren’t so wired up. The room was about as big as the dedsec HQ but with a much higher ceiling. There were like 30 or 40 dancers. On the stage was a DJ with a mask that looked like a mixture of mickey mouse and those old fashioned things doctors wore during medieval times. It was angular though and looked like it was made from some kind of metal or mirrors or something. You couldn’t tell and didn’t really care.  
Getting out your phone and opening a picture of you and Wrench, you tapped a dancing guy on the shoulder. Showing him the picture resulted in a shrug. You repeated this a few times more and finally someone pointed you towards the right. Thankfully, Wrench with his mask and tattoos was pretty easily remembered, even if someone was drunk and/or high.  
You had lost Marcus somewhere in the crowd but didn’t worry. He could look after himself.  
Walking towards the direction the guy had pointed you led you to a passage, about the size of a shipping container. To your left was a bar with bottles of liquor of every color. A few people were drinking or making out in the corner, while others were snorting something from the counter. You quickly scanned the space for Wrench but didn’t see him anywhere.  
Walking a bit farther led you past the toilets which made you gag from only looking at them. Most of the stalls didn’t have any doors but people obviously were beyond caring. There was a girl sitting on one of the toilets with a syringe dangling from her arm. She didn't look healthy at all.  
“Fuck,” you whispered, praying you wouldn’t find Wrench like that. A guy came out of the toilets and looked you up and down appreciatively. You shook your head and walked backwards when he tried to touch you, but showed him the picture of Wrench instead. “Fuck that dude! I’ll show you how to have a good time!” he screamed over the music.  
“No thanks,” you said and continued on your way. By now, the music was getting almost bearable and you could understand people around you if they shouted.  
You continued showing people your phone and a few pointed you into the direction you were going. Good. That was progress.  
The last passage led you to a sitting area with black and brown leather sofas and chairs. They were ripped and stained in various places but seemed comfortable enough. A few people were sitting or lounging on the sofas, drinking and smoking and there you finally found him.  
Wrench was sitting in a chair in the very back of the room. Well, sitting was probably the wrong word. He was hanging in the chair limply, masked face lolled to the side, hands dangling off the armrests. The mask showed Z.Z.  
You ran towards him and shook him gently.  
“Fuck off!” he slurred almost incomprehensibly and tried slapping your hands away.  
“Wrench, you ass! It’s me!” you said, moving close to his ear. His display switched from Z.Z to *.* and back a few times before he managed to lift his head a bit.  
“Oh man… you look like my ex,” he said and </3 </3 lit up on his mask for a second.  
“Your ex? Are you serious?” you asked. Wow, that stung.  
“Yea… don’t worry though. She’s fucking gorgeous, I’d do her again in a second!” His words seemed genuine but he was obviously high out of his mind. “Come here,” he pulled you on his lap and put his arm around your waist.  
You’d have to make him get tested for every STD there was before you could allow him to touch you again, if he acted like that towards a seemingly strange girl.  
“Wrench, you fucking dumbass!” you said, momentarily reveling in his touch, before getting up again. By now, his mask had decided on *.* and he was looking at you.  
“Wow, you really look exactly like her,” he sighed.  
“Yea, because it’s me! Come on, let’s go home!” you grabbed his hand and tried pulling him up. The general tang of your surroundings couldn’t mask how bad he stank. Josh had said he hadn’t moved from this place since yesterday, so that was probably why.  
“But I don’t wanna go home!” he said. ”I don’t have to think about stuff here. Home is exhausting.” He freed his hand from yours and slapped your fingers away.  
Okay, that was it. Enough with the games. You bent over him and opened the clasp on the back of his head with quick fingers. Before he realized what was happening, you pulled the mask away and slapped him straight across the face.  
“What are you fucking doing?” he shouted, reaching for his mask. He sounded outraged, but at least he was awake.  
“I’m here to get you! Come on let’s go home!”  
You stood right before him, forcing him to look at you. “Is… Are…. Y/N?” he said, finally grasping what was happening.  
“Yea man, don’t you recognize her?” Marcus suddenly said from behind you.  
“Marcus?” Of course he’d recognize his buddy immediately.  
“Yea man, I was worried!”  
“That’s so sweet!” Wrench said. He seemed to have forgotten he didn’t have his mask on.  
“You know what? You’re a fucking asshole! We should really leave you here.” You turned around, trying to hide the tears forming in your eyes. Why had you even bothered?  
“Y/N wait!” Wrench suddenly said and laboriously got up from his chair. He was unsteady on his feet but with some holding on to the walls he managed to reach you.  
“You came back here for me?” he asked, disbelieve tinting his voice.  
“Sure! But I realize now what a big fucking mistake it was!”  
“Mistake?” he held on to the wall with one hand and to your upper arm with the other.  
“You’re obviously having a grand old time here.”  
“Yea… but… wow, you’re really back!”  
You hadn’t realized how sad his eyes were until now. The sadness fell away though and relief lit up his face. Relief and genuine happiness?  
“I thought I’d never lay eyes on you again! I thought I’d fucked us up for good this time!”  
“Yea well… obviously I’m too much of an idiot to just let you go.”  
“And thank god for that!” He pulled you close and kissed you on the lips, only to push you away a second later and puke right on the floor straight between the two of you. “Fuck, I’m sorry… “ he said, wiping his mouth on his sweater. “This… is not a reflection of my feelings for you.” He pushed you backwards, careful not to step in his own puke, and tried pulling you in for a kiss once more.  
“Wrench, you’re fucking disgusting!” you said, holding him away from you with your hands on his chest. Marcus was half sitting on the backrest of one of the sofas and watching you with an amused look on his face.  
“Wrench, man... let’s get out of here and get you cleaned up. You can kiss her then!” he finally stepped in.  
“Yea… after an hour-long shower and a cocktail of mouthwash and antibiotics,” you murmured but followed them as Marcus led Wrench towards the exit. He had his arm around his shoulder since Wrench still couldn’t walk straight.  
Wrench kept on staring over his shoulder to make sure you were still following them. When you had made it up the stairs, you put Wrench’s other arm over your shoulder and the three of you walked towards the exit.  
Wrench stank like a hobo. “How long has it been since you showered… or even changed clothes for that matter?” you asked, nose scrunched up in disgust.  
“I... what day is it?”  
You rolled your eyes. This was all the reply you needed.

“All my clothes are dirty… and I figured, why shower if my clothes smell anyways…”  
“That’s disgusting man.” Marcus said and moved away from him as far as he could while still keeping him upright.  
“Yea… but I felt disgusting on the inside and wanted to match my outside, soooo….”  
Your heart stung from hearing him talk like that.  
“So where should we take him?” Marcus asked.  
“To his place. Sitara won’t let us into the flat smelling like that. There’s puke all over my shoes!” You wrinkled your nose in disgust. Even outside in the fresh night air, you could still smell Wrench.  
“Quick warning before we get into the car… there’s more where that came from.” He pointed at the puke on his shoes.  
You rolled your eyes. “Thanks for not letting me do this alone,” you said to Marcus.  
“Oh I wouldn’t miss it! The two of you… better than TV, honestly!” he chuckled. “But I really wish, we’d have taken your car…” He glanced sideways at Wrench, who was laboriously climbing into the back seat and letting himself fall to the side.  
“Wake me up when we’re home,” he said and pulled his legs inside, up on the seat. “I could really use some sleep.”  
You closed the door behind him and climbed in on the passenger side, Wrench’s mask still in your hand. He was so out of it, he hadn’t even noticed he wasn’t wearing it. 

“Thanks for bringing us. I’ll take it from here,” you said, once Marcus stopped in front of Wrench’s garage. The thought of what might expect you in the RV made you shudder.  
You got out and opened the back door for Wrench. He climbed out and held on to you. “My savior,” he whispered and tried kissing you again.  
“Cleaning up first, kissing later,” you said and pushed his face away with your hand. “Come on.” You ushered him towards the RV and opened the door.  
The smell inside wasn’t half as bad as you had expected. “Did you clean in here?” you asked. He looked around in confusion.  
He seemed confused as well, but then, he seemed confused in general.  
“Okay, let’s get you cleaned up and in bed,” you continued when he didn’t offer an explanation. “Where’s your strong, manly protector boyfriend now?” you murmured, more to yourself than to him but he heard it, of course.  
“He kicked my ass, when I was getting too bad for his taste…”  
“Wow, what an amazing person he must be.” You rolled your eyes and helped him out of his sweater, gingerly touching only the very edges. A gasp escaped your lips, when you saw his arms and wrists. There had been scars before, but the inside of his left arm was covered in fresh cuts, a few of them badly infected and oozing pus. “Why did you do this to yourself?” you asked. Your heart broke in this moment. You'd thought you’d had it bad, but it had been worse for him obviously. And it was your fault.  
“I just needed to feel something… anything.” he nervously tried to hide his arm with his right hand, which only served to showcase the cigarette-burns on his right arm.  
“Wrench, fuck,” you whispered and took his hands carefully. “I’m so sorry.”  
“Why would you be sorry? It’s all my fault!”  
“Yea, but still… Come on, get a shower and we’ll clean this up after, yes?”  
He lifted his arms over his head when you pulled his shirt up. He had lost a considerable amount of weight. You could practically count his ribs, even in the low light of the bathroom.  
There were some more burn marks on his thighs, but thankfully not as many as there were on his arms. The piercing had healed by now and didn’t seem inflamed. Small victories!

While he showered, you changed the sheets. You didn’t want to think about the people he had possibly banged in the bed and you didn’t want to sleep where he had fucked someone else.  
This was all such a mess. Had it been a mistake to come back? You loved him but you knew you’d never have the apple pie life with him. Did this really matter though? Your parents had had that kind of life and all it had taken to destroy it was one small blood clot in your father’s brain.  
Once you were done with the bed, you lay down on your side and hugged your knees.  
The day had been long and it was late. You were incredibly tired, both emotionally and physically.  
You had almost fallen asleep, when you felt Wrench wrap himself around you from behind. “Thank you for coming back for me.”


	20. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, guys and gals, gather around for the last part of this epic lovestory.  
> This is gonna be fun first, then get sad, then fun again and then we'll all collectively be sad for a while, because the story is over.
> 
> This is the link to the song mentioned in the Story... its so beautiful, I wanna cry!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkFB8f8bzbY I highly recommend listening to it while you read it!

When you woke up the next morning, Wrench was gone.  
You turned around in bed, only briefly opening your eyes, and snuggled into the covers once more. Then you opened your eyes again. There was blood on the pillow. Why was there blood on the pillow?  
"Wrench?" you asked, sitting up in bed, worried.  
He wasn't in the RV. Quickly you got up and walked towards his garage, not thinking about putting on any shoes. There was music playing in the garage and it sounded like Wrench was whistling along with it. What the fuck? You had never heard him whistle before.  
"Wrench?" you opened the small door and looked inside. Now you wished you'd have put on shoes. There was just too much... stuff... on the floor. You stayed where you were and didn't walk any further.  
"Good morning, love!" Wrench said all cheerful. His left forearm was covered in Hello Kitty Band-Aids.  
"What are you doing? Why are you in such a good mood?" you asked, a smile slowly spreading on your face. He was welding something but you couldn't make out what it was from your position.  
"I'm making something for you." he said.  
"For me? How do I deserve that?"  
"Well... because I made up my mind about something prettttttty important last night."  
"Yea?"  
"Yea! Come here! Oh wait... why aren't you wearing shoes?"  
"Because it’s early and I just woke up to an empty, bloody bed and I haven't had coffee yet."  
"Ah... makes sense... Sorry about that…" He motioned at his arm as he walked to you and picked you up. Or, he tried to. "Did you put on weight?" he asked.  
"Wrench you ass! Is that really a thing you want to ask the girl who has just decided to give you another chance?"  
"No, no, I'm sorry... Probably my fault."  
Truth was, you might have gained some weight. You had been doing nothing but sit around all day wallowing in self pity for the past few weeks. That and eating ice cream with lots of chocolate liquor on top. But he had probably lost some of his strength as well. Taking a shitton of uppers and not eating anything would do that to anyone.  
"Well, if you can't bring the mountain to the prophet... that’s how the saying goes, right?"  
"I honestly don't know, but if you just compared me to a fucking mountain, I'm leaving!"  
"Hahah... sorry, didn't mean that. Well, anyways... I wanted to ask you something." He hurried back to get the thing he had been working on.  
You were standing in the doorway, wearing yesterday's dress, sunshine warming your back as he got back to you and got down on one knee.  
"I know this is fucking cheesy, but... you deserve cheesy, so here we are..." He cleared his throat before continuing. "Will you marry me?"  
You blinked at him a few times slowly processing what he had just said. "Are you serious?"  
"What... of course I am! This is nothing to joke about! Not even I would do that!"  
"Well... show me the ring then, because I'm going to marry the fuck outta you!"  
"Wow, you're such a romantic."  
"I know, right?"  
He took your hand and carefully put the ring he had just made on your finger. It was still warm from being welded. The band was silver in color, with a shiny roundish stone? No, it was no stone actually...  
"It’s from my mask." he explained and quickly hurried to get it from where it was resting on his workbench. He pointed to the very right of the display and sure enough, there was one of the LEDs missing.  
You felt your heart skip a beat and blinked when teardrops started forming in the corners of your eyes. "Omg," you whimpered.  
"So you like it?"  
"I love it! I love you! Fuck I'm crying!" You hugged him and squeezed him tight. He had gotten so slim, you could wrap your arms around him and almost touch yourself at the other side. "Can I.... can I go call Sitara? Like real quick?"  
"Do you want me to make her a ring too? So we can get married, the three of us?" A hint of sarcasm tinted his words.  
"Nope! You're my bitch now! No more sharing! And I can't believe you just said the M word. I never thought I would hear that from you! But for real Wrench... If you ever pull another stunt like you did..."  
"I promise I won’t. Actually...." He lifted his shirt and pulled his pants down a bit. There was a new tattoo. You had to turn your head to the side to read the upside down writing. On his groin, in the same black letters as most of his tattoos, it said "Y/Ns Bitch"  
"You're fucking crazy," you laughed  
"Well, you got my name, kinda, so I figured it'd only be fair... And they'll touch when we fuck!" he laughed, gently stroking over your hipbone where your little wrench tattoo was, moving his fingers downward slowly.   
"Why is it upside down though?" you asked the obvious question, brushing his fingers away.  
"Well, you try writing on your own groin, then you'll know."

Once you had agreed to marry Wrench, everything else seemed to fall into place. You had wanted a beach wedding and that’s what you got.  
Wrench’s mums had somehow managed to bring the gazebo from their garden to the beach. Harmony had insisted on doing the decorations and you had given her free reign. She was beyond thrilled to have you as a daughter. Not in law, because she didn’t believe in laws, but a real daughter. Seemed like now you had five mothers. Well, four, since your biological mother was still mad and had refused to come. Your sister was highly pregnant with her fourth baby and hadn’t wanted to risk anything while travelling, so it was just you, Wrench, his mums, Sitara, Josh, Marcus and Marcus jr..  
You arrived at the beach at dusk. The gazebo was decorated with fairy lights and what seemed like a million white flowers. A trail of more flowers led the way towards it, through the sand.  
You wore a strapless turquoise dress, knee length in the front, but drawing out towards the back so it almost touched the floor. Your long hair was in a messy up-do, with a few strands falling down on your shoulders. It had taken Sitara hours to make it look as messy as you liked.

Everyone was barefoot, via Ravens request. She had offered to marry you, since she was a priestess of the mother Gaia. You had eagerly agreed. A normal wedding would absolutely not have been your style.  
Wrench was waiting at the altar, under the gazebo. A grin appeared on your face, when you saw he wore an actual three piece suit, black with a white dress shirt, the topmost buttons open, so his anarchy tattoo was still visible, and of course his mask. It clashed a bit but he looked dashing in the outfit. A dedsec pin proudly rested at one of the lapels. Harmony, Summer and Sequoia were sitting on a small bench to the left, Josh and Marcus were sitting on the right. Sitara walked you to the altar.  
When the two of you got close, Marcus pushed a button on his phone and Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova started playing.  
“Oh my god, you remembered that?” you whispered, turning to Sitara. You had told her about the song and how you wanted on your wedding years earlier, when you had still been in school.  
“Of course I remembered,” she said.  
“Thank you!” You stopped and hugged her.  
“That’s what friends are for.”   
Wrench was looking at you with <3.<3 on his mask but obviously wasn’t satisfied by seeing you through a camera. “Fuck this!” he murmured when you reached the gazebo. For a second you tensed, fearing he’d changed his mind.   
He hadn’t. He unclasped his mask and took it off… in front of everyone. “So pretty,” he whispered and took your hand, pulling you close and kissing you.  
“Hey! Not yet!” Sitara protested.   
Wrench didn’t care. He squeezed you towards him even closer and grabbed your butt for good measure.   
You giggled.  
After he was satisfied, and probably got your lipstick smeared all over your face, he reluctantly let go so you could stand at your dedicated spot. You didn’t have flower-bouquet, but you didn’t need one. There were so many flowers everywhere, the air was filled with their sweet scent.  
You felt tears form in the corners of your eyes when you realized that this was it. This was the day every little girl was dreaming about. And you knew, with Wrench, your life would never get boring. It would be filled with laughter and joy and tears and adventure and most of all: crazy ideas all the time.  
The ceremony was unconventional to say the least. Raven had talked you through the most important items but you were still quite clueless about it all.  
After addressing and greeting everyone and telling people why you had all gathered here on this lovely fall day, she made you hold your hands and wrapped a white handfasting band around your wrists while saying a prayer.  
_In the time before time_  
_I heard a call from the cosmos_  
_of such illustrious beauty_  
_I succumbed_  
_Answering the call of Gaia_  
_to help her seed a new land_  
_where love was all_  
_and yet I have to yearn for the affections of another._

The words were so beautiful, you felt tears form in your eyes again, but held them back for fear of destroying your makeup. Looking at Wrench, he showed no such inhibitions. A tear ran down his cheek, leaving a wet trail on his skin. His gaze rested on you with such love and affection, all soft and so full of adoration, you knew he’d never let you down. Despite all his many faults, you knew you could always count on him. Biting your lip, you wiped away his tear with your thumb.  
“Allergies,” he whispered. "Fucking flowers." The congregation, small as it was heard him and laughed at his poor excuse.  
“Sure man,” Marcus joked, his voice hoarse as well.  
The white band stayed on your hands for a while before Raven asked for the rings to be brought to her. Marcus ushered Marcus jr. towards you. You grinned when you saw the small cushion on his back, with the rings bound to it.   
“Come here doggy.” You bent your knees to receive him. He ran towards you for a second, before seeing something at the waterline and dashing off towards whatever it was.  
“Fuck!” Marcus exclaimed and got up, running after his dog. "I'll be right back!"   
All of you looked after him and laughed, as you saw them play catch in the sand, with Marcus having no chance at catching the little dog at all.  
“Well… that’s irksome…” Raven said when they still weren’t back after a few minutes.  
“Can you just leave this part out and wed us already? I have to kiss this gorgeous woman! And probably do a couple of other naughty things to her too…” he grabbed his crotch suggestively.  
“Rawr” You made a paw-scratchy gesture towards him.  
“Alright, you lovebirds… We’ll improvise.” Raven laughed, her long, linen robes blowing in the wind.  
“Last part of the ceremony is the planting of a tree as a symbol of your love, because as your love and affection for each other will grow, so will the tree. Since we can’t plant a tree on the beach, you’ll just replant it in a bigger container and we will properly plant it in our garden later tonight.  
You grinned when she brought the little sapling.   
“It’s a snow-in-summer-tree. It doubles as a symbol of your love and as a symbol of you coming here to our beautiful city from the cold north,” she explained.  
“It’s perfect,” you whispered.   
Harmony and Sequoia dragged a pot of dirt that had partly been hidden by their bench until now towards the altar.  
“We can take off the handfasting band now, I guess.” Raven said. “It’s usually removed after the exchange of the rings, but…” she trailed off.  
Wrench unwrapped your hands and put the band around your neck, lovingly letting his fingers glide over your skin as he did so, before turning to the dirt on the ground.  
“We’re in for a treet.” he chuckled, bending down.  
You looked at him and shook your head, before joining him.  
“Fuck I can’t believe you’re really marrying him,” Sitara said, rolling her eyes at his dumb joke.  
“Shhhh we don’t need your commen-tree,” Wrench said and took the sapling from Raven.  
“I can’t be-leaf it either,” you said, joining in with his bad puns.  
“You really are made for each other,” Marcus interjected, coming back from his wild chase. He held the corgy on his arm but the rings were nowhere to be seen.  
“What happened?”  
“He lost the cushion… I couldn’t find it! I’m sorry man! I’ll get you new rings," he apologized. "And someone wont get any treats for the rest of the day,” he scolded the puppy.   
Marcus jr. barked in protest.  
“Damn, I was really root-ing for you.” Wrench continued his pun streak.  
“This whole wedding is a mess,” Sitara said.  
“Yea, and I leaf every second of it,” you chuckled.

 And so, you were wed. The wedding cake turned out to be pot brownies, homemade by Summer, since she was the baker in the family. Wrench had parked his RV close by and you made it “home” before the brownies kicked in.  
The wedding night was as perfectly imperfect as the rest of the day had been, with lots of laughter and love and stupid jokes, interrupted by occasional sloppy high sex.

But soon after, things started going to shit.  
Turned out, love and chemistry to die for was no guarantee for a good marriage, as were empty promises. As Sitara had foretold, Wrench would always be a dumbass and after a few fuckups too many, you finally decided you didn’t want to put up with it anymore. Little did you know, you were three months pregnant when you kicked his ass for good.  
Six months later, your baby boy Acer Wrench Y/L/N was born. Wrench couldn’t be any happier. Finally, someone really had his chosen name on their birth certificate.  
You had broken up, but decided you’d still stay friends for obvious reasons. And since a wedding before mother gaia wasn’t really legally binding, you didn’t even have to get a divorce. Yay for small victories.  
Wrench wasn’t there when the baby was born. He was on a dedsec mission when it happened, but he was the first visitor you had at the hospital.   
“He’s like a fleshy version of my first son,” Wrench said, cooing over the newborn in his arms.  
Using the little strength you had left, you slapped him on the chest. “Stop saying such things! You’re a father now.”  
He looked up at your words. “Fuck,” he whispered. “I’m a father!” His eyes started glistening with tears. “That’s like the greatest thing I ever achieved.” The tears were overflowing and started running down his cheeks.  
“Are you crying?” you asked, grinning.  
“I’m not crying! You’re crying!” he said and turned away from you, sniffing. “Ohana means family!”  
“Yea, yea, sure!” you laughed. “Hold up his head!”  
“Heeeey! I’m sorry I’m late! My fucking car broke down!” Sitara interrupted your family moment. “Are you crying?” she said to Wrench, taking the baby from him.  
“Damn, I should really start wearing my mask again,” he murmured, wiping away the tears.  
“Please don’t! I don’t want our child growing up, thinking its normal his father has no face.”  
  
You tried raising the little boy together with Sitara, but both of you quickly figured out the flat was too small for the three of you.  
Which was, when Harmony proposed you move in with them. You agreed and this was how you ended up living in a hippie commune with your four mothers. There was always someone to look after Acer and you could keep your job and still help out with dedsec as well. Harmony and the others couldn’t have been more thrilled at having a little one at their house again. Wrench came by as often as possible and he also knew to call you when he was feeling down again.

5 Years later:   
It was a beautiful fall day and you were sitting in the garden. You had lately taken up to living mostly topless, your long hair barely covering your breasts. You felt connected to mother gaia in a way you had never felt connected to anything ever before.   
Acer was running around in the garden, playing with a little kitten, wearing a pink tutu, his long hair a curly mess atop his head. It was the same color as Wrench's. His eyes were Wrench's as well, but the rest of him was absolutely you.   
Wrench had called earlier and announced he'd come by later that day. Acer was thrilled at seeing his dad. He always brought him homemade toys, many of which were much too dangerous for a little boy to play with and you took them away as soon as Wrench left, but it didn't matter. He'd bring a new, even more dangerous toy the next time.   
"Honey, I'm home!" Wrench announced, coming in through the doorway.   
"Daddy!" Acer stopped trying to catch the kitten and ran towards his father instead, jumping up at him.  
"Hey, Ace!" Wrench caught the little boy midair and hugged him close.   
You stood up and walked towars Wrench as well. "Hey there," you said and kissed him on the cheek. He was barely ever wearing his mask anymore these days.   
"Wow... you're topless... again..." he greeted you, obviously having problems keeping his gaze on your eyes as opposed to farther down.   
"Yea... its comfy. You should try," you chuckled. "How are you?"  
"Oh you know, same old, same old... " Acer had struggled free again and was running around the two of you in circles.   
"Did you bring me a present?" he kept on shouting.   
"You know you're spoiling him," you said when Wrench gave his son a small blackish box.   
"Yea... and he deserves it," Wrench chuckled. "And its something useful for once."  
Acer was sitting on the ground and emptied the contents of the box all around him. It was a toolbox. "Mum said the fridge is broken again... I'll show him how to fix it."   
You chuckled and watched your son playing with his new "toys".   
"He's becoming such a weird kid... I couldn't be any prouder," you said.   
Wrench said nothing. No words were necessary. He pulled you close with one arm and kissed your head, as the sinking sun over San Francisco painted the sky above you in all the shades of pink and orange you could imagine.  

And that was it. Not the happily ever after fairy tales advertised, but your very own personal happy end. And you couldn’t have wished for a better one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, that was it... let me know if you liked it! I hope you had as much fun reading as I had writing this! :D


	21. Sorry

not a new chapter, sorry...   
I just wanted to let my few trusty subscribers know that I went over the whole story again, editing it and changing a few little things since I found the first few chapters positively cringeworthy, when I reread them...   
So, in case you were thinking of rereading... It's much better now! I promise! And I had the best of times, reading all the crazy hilarity again! ;)

**Author's Note:**

> this work of fiction might or might not be inspired by real life felines and occurences... lol


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